Traveling to the Light
by Kittykat1418
Summary: Sequel to Dark Live (Please read before this one). Ash and Misty begin their Pokemon journey joined by someone unexpected. Both with their unique goals, encounters with their rivals and reuniting with old friends. Will their romance last the whole journey. Rated T for battles and some drama. Pokeshipping with some Contestshipping. Anime Remake taking game features and my own ideas.
1. Beginning of a Journey

Hi, everyone. As the description says, this is the sequel to an older story of mine called 'Dark Life'. I'd suggest reading it, as I won't be explaining much from the original story unless it is plot-relevant. I'll say that it's somewhat of a dark story so go into it prepared. This is a mix of the anime and the games, by the way. With some very big plot relevant differences.

* * *

Ash and Misty stood on the edge of Pallet Town, looking down Route 1. The only Pokemon they had out were Togetic and Pikachu, but that was to be expected at the end of the day. On some level, the two found it interesting that their first Pokemon happened to be middle-stage Pokemon with a baby form and a evolution via a certain type of stone. It did seemed a little ironic for the two 16 year olds. They turned around to see their families watching them, Max was standing in front of all the people sending them off. His eyes were full of tears, he wasn't impressed to hear that Misty was leaving along with his other sister. But he didn't say anything at first.

Ash was the one to speak first, saying calmly. "Thanks for seeing us off, we're going now," Misty nodded, giving a small smile to her family. With that said, they soon were walking off into the distance to begin their journey.

Norman and Caroline had been surprised when their adoptive daughter had came out and asked to travel with Ash, so she could be with her boyfriend and train to be the Cerulean gym leader in the future. The difference in gym leader status had surprised her adoptive father, but he couldn't complain since he had been training May up to take over - even though the brunette had no interest, her leaving earlier was so she could have a break from raising normal types. Their youngest and only son on the other hand...

Max had enough, soon running after his adoptive sister and her boyfriend. He didn't want to be left behind, everyone else had already left. When he caught up to them, he grabbed Ash's hand. He turned back, quite surprised by the sudden tug on his hand. Max sighed and said in a desperate voice. "Please take me with you, I don't want to be left behind by both of my sisters!"

Misty smiled, bringing her adoptive brother into a caring hug. "Sure you can come, the more the merrier. Right, Ash?" she looked up at her raven haired boyfriend, who gave a silent and kind nod. Even Togetic and Pikachu expressed their wishes for the younger boy to come along. The boy may only be 13, three years under the age you could start traveling, with only 2 Pokemon. But, he had skills that neither Misty nor Ash processed. Namely, he had a pokenav given to him by his father. He could help them get around, with less chances of them getting lost.

Max smiled, glad that they were letting him come along. So, now the three of them were heading along Route 1. It wasn't long before they were ambushed by Pokemon. The Pokemon being a horde of Rattata, who were after their packed lunches. Ash knew he didn't have any type advantages, having only Pikachu, Charizard and Bulbasaur presently. But he wanted to get some experience into Bulbasaur, so he called the Seed Pokemon out and asked for a quick Vine Whip.

The Rattata were all quite weak, so it was a easy victory for the grass type. "Bulba!" the Pokemon confidently said, basically telling the Rattata to not mess with him again. He then turned to his trainer and prepared to be recalled into the ball again. When he wasn't, he said in confusion. "Saur?..."

Ash grinned, smiling at the Pokemon. "Don't you worry, Bulbasaur. I'm not one of the those trainers, who keep you lock in your poke balls unless your needed. The only one, who's going to be staying in his ball for the moment is Charizard. It'd be a big weird for me to turn up to my gym battle with a fully evolved Pokemon, so I'll wait until Vermilion before I use him properly," it did make sense after all and Charizard understood the reason, besides he'd rather stay in his ball then attract much attention for being, well, a fully evolved starter.

Bulbasaur was definitely surprised, but he got a trusting nod from Pikachu. He then looked back at Ash and said. "Bulba bulbasaur."

Max was a little confused, not being able to understand Pokemon speech. He could hardly understand his Treecko, so he looked up at his sister's boyfriend and asked calmly. "What he say, Ash?"

"He's says that he's happy to stay out of his poke ball. But he wants to know Charizard's and Pikachu's move sets before we get moving to Viridian City," he grabbed his Charizard's Poke ball and sent the massive fire/flying type out. He greeted Ash with a blazing Flamethrower to the face, Ash sighed as he coughed up some smoke and his face's blackened from his burn. "Always the same greeting with you, isn't it?"

Charizard growled, giving a affectionate smile. Ash knew what he was saying though. " _Yeah, it's allows you to be able to handle fire moves. If I miss, I won't have to worry about you hurting,_ " the boy sighed. " _So, why did you call me out? You said you weren't gonna be bringing me out often prior to Vermilion..._ "

"Well, the new member of our team wanted to know yours and Pikachu's move sets," the boy smiled, pulling his pokedex out. "So, can you hold still while I scan you so he can learn," Charizard shrugged, but held still has Ash pulled his dex in front of him and it switched on via the sensor.

 **Pokemon: Charizard.**

 **Category: Flame Pokemon**

 **Type: Fire and Flying.**

 **Dex entry: Charizard flies around the sky in search of powerful opponents. It breathes fire of such great heat that it melts anything. However, it never turns its fiery breath on any weaker than itself.**

 **Gender: Male.**

 **Ability: Blaze.**

 **Moves: Flamethrower, Submission, Skull Bash and Dragon Rage.**

The dex finished it's scan, as Bulbasaur's face filled with amazement and respect for the much bigger Pokemon. He extracted one of his vines, trying to coax the fire/flying dual type to shake 'hands'. Ash smiled, as Charizard's mighty claw met Bulbasaur's vine. "Well, Bulbasaur. Time for Pikachu's turn."

"Pika!" the Pokemon cried, hoping off Ash's shoulder and standing beside the grass type. He looked somewhat proud of himself, but still had a kind smile that showed he'd teach the Pokemon. Ash chuckled, holding his dex over his Pikachu.

 **Pokemon: Pikachu.**

 **Category: Mouse Pokemon**

 **Type: Electric.**

 **Dex entry: It's in its nature to store electricity. It feels stressed now and then if it's unable to fully discharge the electricity.**

 **Gender: Male.**

 **Ability: Lightning Rod.**

 **Moves: Thunderbolt, Iron Tail, Volt Tackle (Egg move) and Quick Attack.**

"Pika-chu!" the Pokemon cried, showing his pride in his ability and moves.

Ash chuckled, still holding his pokedex. He recalled Charizard, saying that there'll be new trainers leaving soon. "Lets see what Bulbasaur has, shall we?" once Pikachu and Bulbasaur both nodded, he scanned his newest Pokemon.

 **Pokemon: Bulbasaur**

 **Category: Seed Pokemon**

 **Type: Grass and Poison.**

 **Dex entry: Bulbasaur can be seen napping in bright sunlight. There is a seed on its back. By soaking up the sun's rays, the seed grows progressively larger.**

 **Gender: Male.**

 **Ability: Overgrow.**

 **Moves: Tackle, Growl, Vine Whip and Giga Drain (Egg move)**

"All three of you are gonna be amazing!" Ash cheered, getting Bulbasaur and Pikachu to chant their cries out in unison in support.

Misty chuckled, nodding her head at the boy's line. She then thought of something, looking at her poke balls. She already had 6 Pokemon, but only due to her love of fishing after all. "I should check my group...shouldn't I, Ash?"

"Yeah, you'd want to know the moves they have off the bat," he responded, giving a smile. "The only move I've seen your Togetic use is Metronome and Psychic, so I'm curious about her move set."

Misty giggled, nodding her head. She threw her poke balls into the air and out came her team. Her Squirtle, Staryu, Goldeen, Luvdisc and of course, Vaporeon. She decided to go through them in order of when she got them, so first up was her baby. "Togetic, fly in front of me and hold still."

"Ticku!" the Happiness Pokemon nodded, doing so and then waiting for the dex to scan her.

 **Pokemon: Togetic**

 **Category: Happiness Pokemon.**

 **Type: Fairy and Flying.**

 **Dex entry: Togetic is said to be a Pokemon that brings good fortune. When the Pokemon spots someone who is pure of heart, it is said to appear and share its happiness with that person.**

 **Gender: Female**

 **Ability: Serene Grace**

 **Moves: Metronome, Psychic, Extrasensory (Egg move) and Thunder Wave.**

Misty smiled, hugging her baby close. She then moved to everyone else. She started with Vaporeon and went through the water types quite quickly.

 **Pokemon: Vaporeon**

 **Category: Bubble Jet Pokemon**

 **Type: Water**

 **Dex entry: Blending in with the water an erasing all signs of its presence, it patiently waits for its prey, fish Pokemon.**

 **Gender: Female.**

 **Ability: Water Absorb.**

 **Moves: Water Gun, Aurora Beam, Quick Attack and Fake Tears (Egg move)**

She then turned her attention to the others, starting with Staryu.

 **Pokemon: Staryu.**

 **Category: Star Shape Pokemon**

 **Type: Water**

 **Dex entry: This Pokemon gets nibbled on by Lumineon and others. Thanks to its red core, it regenerates fast, so it's unconcerned by their snack attacks.**

 **Gender: Genderless.**

 **Ability: Natural Cure.**

 **Moves: Water Gun, Rapid Spin, Recover and Psywave.**

Next up was Goldeen.

 **Pokemon: Goldeen**

 **Category: Goldfish Pokemon.**

 **Type: Water**

 **Dex entry: Spellbound by the length of its horn and the beauty of its fin, many strange Trainers raise Goldeen and nothing but Goldeen.**

 **Gender: Female.**

 **Ability: Swift Swim.**

 **Moves: Agility, Horn Attack, Fury Attack and Water Gun.**

After Goldeen was Caserin the Luvdisc.

 **Pokemon: Luvdisc. (Nickname: Caserin)**

 **Category: Rendezvous Pokemon.**

 **Type: Water**

 **Dex entry: Loving couples have a soft spot for this Pokemon, so honeymoon hotels often release this Pokemon into their pools.**

 **Gender: Male.**

 **Ability: Swift Swim.**

 **Moves: Tackle, Water Gun, Double Team and Agility.**

And lastly was Squirtle, the newest member of Misty's team. Obtained earlier that day from Professor Oak.

 **Pokemon: Squirtle.**

 **Category: Tiny Turtle Pokemon.**

 **Type: Water.**

 **Dex entry: Squirtle's shell is not merely used for protection. The shell's rounded shape and the grooves on its surface help minimize resistance in water, enabling this Pokemon to swim at high speeds.**

 **Gender:Male.**

 **Ability: Torrent.**

 **Moves: Tackle, Tail Whip, Water Gun and Aura Sphere (Egg move)**

With Squirtle's dex entry read out, she had checked everyone and she was quite impressed. Sure, it could do with some work. But she really wanted to be able to raise powerful water types to be the Cerulean gym leader (Discounting Togetic, but she'd never leave her baby). Ash smiled at the six Pokemon and told his girlfriend in a kind voice. "Everyone's amazing, Togetic's moves are especially amazing."

"Awh...thanks, Ash," Misty blushed, as she recalled everyone but Togetic. The fairy and flying type flew over to Misty's shoulder and sat down. "I think they're all amazing...and I hope they'll always be, even after I become the gym leader."

Max, who had been listening closely to each dex entry, smiled and nodded his head before saying. "You have some amazing Pokemon there, big sis, Ash. I'm sure they'll be awesome!"

Ash grinned, nodding his head. He was getting all fired up, pumping his fist. "They'll be prefect to go through the gyms of Kanto with, nobody's gonna know what hit them until they meet my team! Next stop, Viridian City!"

"Pi-Pikachu!" "Bulba-Bulbasaur!" the two Pokemon he had out joined in, jumping behind him as they cheered for their success in the gym leaders and then later the Pokemon League. With that said, the trio continued their walk through the first route of Kanto. They encountered a few more Rattata and Pidgey on their way, but they were easy targets for Pikachu and Bulbasaur. But they were nearing their first destination of Viridian City and hoped to arrive before sunset. Ash couldn't wait for his first gym battle, that was for sure.

* * *

I hope you enjoyed this pokedex filled chapter. I promise that there won't be as many dex entries from now on. I just wanted to clarify the move sets for the pre-existing Pokemon.

I do lists for Pokemon teams, since I have a horrible memory so here you are.

Ash

Pikachu (Male)

Charizard (Male)

Bulbasaur (Male)

Misty

Togetic (Female)

Vaporeon (Female)

Staryu (Genderless)

Goldeen (Female)

Luvdisc (Caserin)(Male)

Squirtle (Male)

Max

Treecko (Male)

Kirlia (Male)


	2. Phone Calls

Hi, everyone again. I'm hoping to stick to a one chapter per day concept, mostly due to how bored I've been recently. So by the time I get back to school (Well, college..), I'll have over 30 chapters. If a chapter isn't up on time, it likely means I'm sick or my sleeping pattern even more out of wack then it already is...

* * *

The trio of teens and their Pokemon made it to the end of route 1, it had been quite a long journey with all the Rattata and the Pidgey that attacked them. They were easy knock-outs for Pikachu and Bulbasaur. Bulbasaur even replaced his Growl with Poison Powder. Virdian City was much more populated than Pallet Town, there were more buildings and it was actually harder to navigate around. But, thanks to Max's Pokenav, they found the Pokemon Center. They planned to stay the night here, so they booked a pair of rooms and then asked Nurse Joy to look after their Pokemon.

Max sat down, his two Pokemon didn't need looking after as they hadn't been out prior. He needed to call out his Kirlia and Treecko, the two Hoenn Pokemon smiling at the sight of their trainer. Whilst this was going on, Ash and Misty went over to the video phone. The first one to use it was Ash, as he sat down on the chair and called his mom. Misty stood above him, resting on the back of the chair as the screen flickered on. Ash smiled and said. "Hi, mom. We made it to Viridian City and staying at the Pokemon Center now."

Delia's face lit up with some surprise and some delight at the boy's achievement. She even declare why she was so impressed and surprised in her next couple of lines to her son. "That's amazing, Ash. Your father took a couple of days to make it, but then again he only had his Squirtle with him at the time. You have Pikachu and Charizard to help you."

Pikachu nodded from Ash's shoulder, glad for the attention as he said in a gleeful and somewhat prideful voice. "Pika-pika!" he then seemed to think of something and cried out in a loud and wanting voice. "Pii-chu!"

Delia was a bit surprised and a little lost by the sudden cry that the electric mouse had said, looking at Ash for help. The raven haired boy chuckled and answered his mom's obvious question. "He wants to see his brother, mom. Can you bring Raichu through?"

She nodded, leaving the screen for a little while. When she return, she was followed by Pikachu's older brother. "Rai-ai!" the Pokemon said at the sight of the Pikachu in the screen. "Chuu~"

"Pikachu pika pikapi!"

Ash smiled, he knew what his partner and brother were talking about. Raichu was asking where Pikachu had gone and Pikachu had replied with 'on a journey with Ash'. He smiled at Raichu, the Pokemon belonged to his father. But when his father went to the Johto region to finish his journey, he chose to leave Raichu behind in favor of stronger Pokemon. Not that he didn't like the electric type, it just the terrain they would be traveling over wasn't suited for the evolved Pokemon. "Hey, Raichu. Look after mom for me, won't you?"

"Rai," the Pokemon nodded, giving a small smile.

Delia smiled, patting Raichu on the head. "Now, you be careful, mister. And change your underwear every day," she then looked up at Misty and continued to give her smile. "Make sure he does it, he's hopeless on his own."

"Don't worry, Miss Delia. I know what to do about him," the tangerine haired girl gave a small chuckle. "Besides, it's not just me and Ash now, remember. Max joined us before we left."

"I know, but I just don't trust Ash on his own."

"Gee, thanks, mom..." the raven haired boy moaned, getting a comforting pat from his partner Pokemon. He then looked up at his girlfriend and asked. "Don't you wanna call your own parents, Mist?"

"No...I wanna check in on May. Miss Delia, tell mom and dad that I'm fine and training hard for me," Misty responded, looking at the screen at the woman that was once considered her foster mom. She was saying the truth, though, when she said she wanted to check in on her adoptive sister. They hadn't seen each other for a while, besides the phone conversations to one another. It had only been 2 weeks since May left, but it felt much longer. Even if Misty was the older one, she always felt lost without May in the house.

"You got it, sweetie. I should go now, it's nearly Raichu's feeding time," as if to prove her point, the electric type suddenly reappeared from going missing a little while back. He had a bowl on his hands, looking up at her. "Coming, Raichu. You take care, kids."

With that, the screen flashed off and Ash moved to allow Misty to call her adoptive sister. From what she had last heard, May had taken up Pokemon contests. The next contest was in Pewter City in a couple of days, so she decided to ring there to see if you got an answer. Soon, the screen flashed on to reveal Nurse Joy. She gave a soft smile and asked. "Is a girl called May Maple there?..."

The Nurse gave a kind nod. "I'll call her over for you, do you want me to give her your name so she knows?"

"Yes please. I'm her adoptive sister, Misty Wa-Maple," she nearly let herself slip, she couldn't believe she was still doing it after a year of being adopted by the Maples, giving up her heritage was quite hard to do. No matter how cruel her life had been up until her adoption.

Nurse Joy nodded and left to go find May from the girl. A few minutes later, May appeared on screen with a bright smile. In the background, Drew could be seen with his and May's Pokemon. The brunette gave a grin at Misty and asked. "I was wondering when you'd decide to go on a journey, Misty. You turned 16 a few months back, even before I left on my journey. So you were waiting on Ash, huh?"

Misty gave a blush, which confirmed May's concept. But her tangerine haired girl soon found her voice and said. "Y-yeah, how are you and Drew doing?"

"We're great, waiting on the contest to start. It's not for another 2 days," the brunette gave a sigh, as her Skitty suddenly jumped in front of her and tried talking to Misty herself. May suddenly yelled out, trying to pull the Kitten Pokemon back. "Skitty, stop. I'm trying to have a conversation here!" suddenly a gust of white air filled the room and after it cleared, May could be seen with ice in her hair and scattered around the room. "SKITTY, I told you not to do that!"

Misty gave a chuckle, her sister's antics were always amusing. "I still don't understand why you let her learn Blizzard in the first place, May. It'd save you a lot of trouble if she didn't have it."

"I know," May sighed, looking at the kitten. She began tugging at the ice chunks in her hair. "I didn't really teach it her myself, my father wanted her to know an elemental move. Ice Beam had been the move he had wanted, but it kept turning into a blizzard every single time. I gave up eventually, but now she knows the move and never stops using it. Oh well, at least it'll be an amazing move during contests. What are you two planning to do anyway?"

Ash spoke up next, his voice filled with confidence "Well, there's a gym here in Virdian City. I was hoping to battle it tomorrow and win my first badge. We'll win it, right, Pikachu!"

"Pika!" the Pokemon shared in his trainer's excitement and confidence.

May smiled, she had expected something like that. "And you, sis?"

"Well, I'm planning on training my water Pokemon up a little..." she then blinked, looking over to Max. The boy was still playing around with his Pokemon, laughing happily. "And I have something I need to look after now..." when she saw the confused look on her adoptive sister, she sighed. "Max followed me and Ash when we were going to leave, so we decided to let him come with us."

"Oh, I see. Can you put him on the phone, it's been a while since I last saw him."

"Sure," Misty responded, before looking at her younger adoptive brother and saying. "Max, come over here. May wants to talk to you."

The 12 year old gave a smile as he ran over, smiling at her older biological sister. He giggled a little though at the ice in her hair. "Hey, May. Has your first contest gone by yet?"

"No, me and Drew are still waiting on it," the girl smiled, but it then turned to a teasing grin that her siblings knew well. "So, did you get lonely or something? I didn't expect you to follow after Misty and Ash."

The boy didn't like her tone of voice or her teasing, but the blush confirmed everything. "I wasn't lonely!" he tried to deny, though it was very obviously not the case in the slightest. "I just wanted to go on an adventure with Treecko and Kirlia, nothing more."

May just chuckled, but then she frowned as she turned to look at Drew. Her voice was picked up by the video phone, due to how strong it's senses were. "What is it, Drew?"

"We should get resting for the night, we have a day of preparation to get to tomorrow and I'm sure Ash wants to rest up for his gym battle," her green haired boyfriend responded with a small smile at the screen. His Rosalia giving a affirmative nod in agreement. The boy then chuckled and said. "Besides, I'm sure you want to get rid of the rest of that ice from Skitty's Blizzard."

"Oh right. You heard what he said, we should all get some sleep. It's already sunset and I'm sure your Pokemon are nearly healed up by now," May said with a smile, as she stood up with Skitty in her arms. "Well, see you," she then turned the machine off, causing Misty's end to flash as well.

Misty gave a small smile, before turning to the boys. "She's right, we should get some sleep for tomorrow."

They agreed, before doing their little tasks. Max recalled his two Pokemon whilst the lovebirds of the group collected their Pokemon from Nurse Joy. The woman had some burns on her clothes, clearly from Charizard. Ash chuckled nervously, his fire/flying type wasn't keen on being handled by anyone but him. He sent Bulbasaur out and smiled. They then headed upstairs to their rented rooms, Misty had her own whilst the boys shared. It wasn't long before they were bedded down.

In Misty's room, she was hugging Togetic closely. She gently smiled, Togetic in her arms. "I'm on a journey with Ash...a few years ago, I would have never considered today ever happening. But, now I get to travel with you and all the other Pokemon, Togetic."

"Ticku!" the Pokemon smiled, glad her trainer was happy. She snuggled into Misty and soon fell to sleep, leaving the girl to think for a bit. She was really glad to be traveling with her boyfriend, it gave her more time to relax and not to reminded of the events of her past. She soon, however, did follow in Togetic's example and closed her eyes to fall into dreamland.

Meanwhile, with Ash and Max. The younger boy had already fallen to sleep in his bed. Ash was still awake, with Pikachu. He gave a smile at the electric mouse. "Lets do our best tomorrow, I can't wait to win my first battle. I want to catch up to dad, maybe even surpass him. I want to become a Pokemon master, with you by my side."

"Pika..." his partner quietly nodded, in agreement. He then asked something in his own language, though Ash knew what he meant instantly. They had been friends long enough for him to be able to understand the Pokemon's speech. "Pikapi, pikachu pi?"

"Yeah, we should get some sleep," the boy nodded, resting his head on his pillow. He gently placed his arm over the Pikachu's body. "Night, Pikachu. See you in the morning."

"Pi, Pikapi..." Pikachu responded, closing his brown eyes and falling to sleep before his trainer did. Ash smiled, before falling asleep him. His last thought was, 'I can't wait for the next day.'

* * *

Oh course, he won't be able to battle the Viridian gym. But for plot relevance after all. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, by the way.

Ash

Pikachu (Male)

Charizard (Male)

Bulbasaur (Male)

Misty

Togetic (Female)

Vaporeon (Female)

Staryu (Genderless)

Goldeen (Female)

Luvdisc (Caserin)(Male)

Squirtle (Male)

Max

Treecko (Male)

Kirlia (Male)


	3. Training

The morning came and the group rejoined for breakfast, the centers served basic food and drinks for people and Pokemon that resided there. The group were quick to collect their food or ketchup in Pikachu's case. Whilst they were eating their food, Max asked with a enjoyed smile. "So, Ash. When you planning to go to the gym? I can't wait to see you battle!"

"Well, I'm planning on spending the morning doing last minute warm-ups with Pikachu and Bulbasaur. And I wanted to help Misty out with her Pokemon, so they could potentially learn some new moves," the older boy explained, as he rammed some food into his mouth with his fork. He gave a happy smile, before continuing to ram the food into his mouth.

Misty chuckled at his antics, commenting on it. "Ash, the food isn't going anywhere. You can calm down and actually taste it, you know," she then turned to the yellow rodent that was licking some ketchup from his bottle. "You too, Pikachu. You've had a whole bottle only 5 minutes ago, it's almost empty already. You'll start whining if you can't have anymore."

"Pi-ka..." the Pokemon complained, but agreed to slow down. It seemed to be doing the trick, as he gave a even bigger smile now that he could taste every part of the ketchup.

Ash nodded, sighing at what his girlfriend had said. It made sense at the end of the day, so he did slowed down on eating and actually seemed a little more happy at being able to taste the food before he went down his throat. Soon, he finished and then looking at his girlfriend and asking in a kind voice. "So, who you planning on training first?"

"Well, I kinda want Staryu to learn some new moves. Maybe things like Bubble Beam and Swift instead of Water Gun and Rapid Spin," she said, giving a small smile as she nodded. "It's a start, then I may have Togetic teach her Psychic to replace Psybeam."

"That's cool, I'm planning on teaching Bulbasaur some new moves. Sludge Bomb is my main choice in move, since I want him to have some poison moves so he can use his Same Type Attack Bonus thing."

Once they had finished their breakfast, the trio headed out to train their Pokemon. They arrived just outside of Viridian City, in a sunny meadow. Not many Pokemon and trainers were around, in fact it was very calm. Max ran off to play with his Pokemon, but stayed close enough for his sister and Ash to keep an eye on him. Misty called her Staryu out and relaxed for a little while, watching her younger brother as he ran around like a Pachirisu. It made her chuckle a little, but smile at how carefree he could be with his Pokemon.

Ash instantly got to work on trying to help Bulbasaur learn Sludge Bomb, the move wasn't the easiest to teach though. Bulbasaur had natural poison running through his body, but it was hard to shape it and craft it into the move. And when he finally got the ball shapes, they often fell to the floor as sludge. But the Seed Pokemon and his partner continued trying, until eventually 5 nearly perfect Sludge Bombs were created and slam into their target. Pikachu was acting as Bulbasaur's target and gave a light cry out as the poison hit, he gave a thumbs up afterwards though.

Ash nodded, as he wiped the sludge off Pikachu's face and said in a confident voice. "Good work, Bulbasaur. Now all we need to do is for you to master it and be able to use it correctly without much chance for a miss."

"Bulba-bulbasaur!" the Pokemon smiled, nodding his head. He then preceded to test the move again, it worked even better as it didn't take as much time for the sludge to solidify. After testing the move, he realized he couldn't use Vine Whip again. The move had been replaced, he noted instantly. He could still summon his vines, but they were able to whip around and certainly did no damage to Pikachu when he tried. He tried to Tackle, still worked, and then used Poison Powder, which also still worked.

Ash chuckled, spraying Pikachu with his Antidote. Having to raise a poison type meant it was good to have antidotes on hand. "Okay, master your new move for me. I am gonna go check on Misty," he then walked over to his girlfriend, who was trying to teach Staryu Bubble Beam. It didn't seem to be working much. He smiled as he came over and knelt down in front of the Star Shape Pokemon. "Allow me, Mist. Staryu, try using your water element to form a bubble. The split it up as it leaves your gem."

The Pokemon's gem glowed to show it's okay, it then did as Ash said. Seconds later, about 10 bubbles came from it's gem. Misty sighed with relief as she sat down on the grass. "I thought you'd never manage to use the move, Staryu. Thanks, Ash. 'She' learnt Swift quite easily, but she couldn't managed to use Bubble Beam. Until you came and helped out."

"Yeah, it's good though that Staryu know has a new move," he then thought of something and asked calmly, but the confusion was very there. He tried to keep himself from sounding cruel or sexist when he asked his next question at the same time. "So, I know that Staryu and their evolution Starmie don't have genders, so can I ask why your calling it a 'she'?"

"Well, from what I can gather, Pokemon don't like being called 'it'. They find it quite degrading. Staryu is a very feminine one and got her gem to glow pink when I asked her. So she's happy for me to call her a 'she'," the girl smiled. The gem flashed in her agreement. Misty giggled, before looking at her baby. "Togetic, I need you to help out with the next move. I want Staryu to learn Psychic, so can you teach her the move? Since you have it mastered already."

"Toge-ticku," the Pokemon nodded, landing on the floor next to the starfish-like Pokemon. She made her eyes glow to represent the psychic energy she had, then told the Star Shape Pokemon to copy her. Soon Staryu's gem was glowing blue as well. Seconds later, Misty was off the ground with blue light wrapping around her. Ash laughed as she gasped out from the sudden levitation.

Misty wasn't impressed though with the sudden levitation, as she yelled out in a loud and frustrated voice. "Togetic, I told you not to do that. It frightens me!" Togetic gasped, her eyes stopping glowing. Staryu's gem turned back to normal at the same time. Misty fell to the ground and groaned. Ash even took a step back due to her outburst, he sometimes hated her dramatic mood swings. But he was somewhat glad, at the same time, that she wasn't a shy as she used to be.

Togetic looked a little scared of Misty's reaction but she knew it wasn't her fault. So she quickly pointed at Staryu and trying to talk in her own language. "Toge toge-ticku toge!"

Misty sighed, she could just about understand what Togetic's noises meant. "So, Staryu did it? But she's only just learning the move, how would she?..." Suddenly, the Staryu's gem glowed again to prove Togetic's point. Misty tried to give a smile. "Well, at least your learning fast. Just don't levitate me in the future, Staryu. It scares me..."

The gem on the Pokemon glowed in understanding, Misty gave a small smile. "Thank you, so can you test your new psychic powers on these," she placed a couple of oranges on the floor in front of the two Pokemon. It seemed that with Togetic's help, Staryu was quick to pick up Psychic and was soon levitating all the oranges at the same time.

Whilst this was going on, Bulbasaur mastered his Sludge Bomb and even shot one at the back of Ash's head to prove his point. Much to the boy's amusement, but he soon spoke again. He directed his voice at his girlfriend as opposed to his two Pokemon. "Well, looks like both of us have new moves on our Pokemon. Though, Mist. I think it's time for my gym battle. Though, I'm a little confused about this battle. It's known that Viridian City has a gym, but the gym leader has never revealed themselves to the public. No one even knows what type they uses as they tells the trainers, who have battled them, to stay quiet about it."

Misty nodded, she had heard about this herself. She then asked a question. "I wonder if your even allowed to battle the gym yet..." though, she didn't get an answer from Ash. He didn't want to consider not being allowed in the gym just yet.

The group recollected together and then headed to the Viridian Gym, Ash made sure to read the sign that was standing from the ground in front of the gym building. It read: _Viridian Gym_. But no more. That was a little confusing, he tried to open the door but it was locked. Suddenly a man came over, he was old and scruffy in appearance. "You kids trying to access the gym?"

"Yes, sir. Do you know why it's locked?" Ash asked, confusion evident in his voice and looks. His confused expression was shared by Pikachu, who was on his shoulder, and Bulbasaur, who was by her feet.

"Well, the gym leader is out at the moment. He said he'd be back after 2 months. It usually takes 3 months to walk around the other cities, so I'd suggest doing that it your spare time. Besides, he usually doesn't accept trainers who don't already have 7 badges. He likes to consider himself the last gym leader in the order. So, I'd suggest going through Viridian Forest until you reach Pewter City. There's a gym there, a rock type gym. Your Bulbasaur should be able to handle the gym quite well, even without evolving."

Misty gave a small smile, tapping Ash's shoulder to get his attention. When he turned to her with a somewhat annoyed expression - due to him not being allowed in the gym. She spoke calmly to keep him from yelling at her.. "We should head there, it'd be a little stupid if we just stay here for the next 2 months. Besides, you'll be able to catch some new Pokemon on the way."

"I guess that's true. Alright then," he nodded, looking at his two Pokemon. He gave a big smile as he began to run towards the entrance to Route 2, the forest in the nearby distance. "C'mon, Pikachu, Bulbasaur. We're going to Pewter City!"

"Bulba!" "Pika!"

"Ash, wait!" Max yelled out, as he tried to run after the older boy. Misty laughed, smiling at her Togetic before giggling at the two boys. They followed after the boys and the Pokemon, leaving the city within only a few minutes. With a new destination in plan and the gym typing of his first battle revealed, how will Ash win his first gym battle?

* * *

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, it's mostly just here to provide the transition to going to Pewter City. Next chapter will be Viridian Forest if that wasn't already obvious and Team Rocket.

Ash

Pikachu (Male)

Charizard (Male)

Bulbasaur (Male)

Misty

Togetic (Female)

Vaporeon (Female)

Staryu (Genderless)(Considered female)

Goldeen (Female)

Luvdisc (Caserin)(Male)

Squirtle (Male)

Max

Treecko (Male)

Kirlia (Male)


	4. Friends and Foes

Misty had been excited to walk into the Viridian forest at first, that soon changed when she had a panic attack due to the amount of bug-type Pokemon that lived within the forest. She actually scared and collapsed to the ground at the mere sight of a Weedle. Ash attempted to comfort her, with little success. He remembered her telling him and May about where her trauma came from, her father had certainly not been the nicest of blood relatives. There were very few bugs that she could accept, one of them being her sister's Beautifly.

"Shh, Misty. It's okay, we'll be out of the forest before you know it," he tried to explain, anything to get her to stop screaming at the top of her lungs. He needed something to help his poor ears, they were ringing quite painfully.

"Y-you mean it?..." she whimpered, not liking the sight of the Caterpie or the Weedle that scattered the forest. She didn't even actually face Ash, mostly because she was that focused on the Pokemon that surrounded them in the trees.

"In fact, how about this? To help you with your fear, I could catch a Caterpie and raise it into a Butterfree. They're known for their kind nature and would never do anything to hurt humans," he smiled, giving her a thumbs up.

"O-okay..." she whispered, unsure. She watched as Ash got a empty poke ball from his bag. There was a tiny Caterpie nearby, it was smiling brightly. It would have seemed almost adorable, if not for the girl's extreme fear. She watched as Ash threw the poke ball, it bounced off the Pokemon's head and glowed red as it cracked open and absorbed the tiny Pokemon in.

It fell to the ground, shaking a few times before ding! The poke ball clicked and stopped the red glow to indicate the successful capture. Ash grinned, yelling out. "Alright!" he then released the Caterpie from the poke ball and stood a few spaces away from his girlfriend. "Okay, Caterpie. You have to be careful with Misty, she has a extreme fear of your type. So, give her some space and show her that there's nothing to be scared of."

The Pokemon gave an adorable squeak as it chose to stay at a comforting distance. Misty watched it, unsure of what to say about it. She did find it quite cute, but it was a bug at the end of the day. She couldn't expect herself, after years of torment, to be able to just accept one because her boyfriend had caught one. Well, at least he hadn't caught a Weedle - they were scarier, due to an encounter with Beedrill she had. She looked up at Ash, briefly, to see him getting his pokedex out. Seconds later, she found herself listening to Caterpie's entry.

 **Pokemon: Caterpie**

 **Catergory: Worm Pokemon**

 **Type: Bug**

 **Dex entry: It's easy to catch, and it grows quickly, making it one of the top recommendations for novice Pokemon Trainers.**

 **Gender: Female**

 **Ability: Shield Dust**

 **Moves: Tackle, Bug Bite, String Shot and Electroweb.**

Misty found it a little surprising that the tiny caterpillar was a girl and had Bug Bite and Electroweb. Though, it didn't make her any less scared of it. If anything, it worsened her fear but she tried to keep it hidden. She didn't want to worry Ash or Caterpie and at the same time, she wanted to get to know and even like the Worm Pokemon one day.

Caterpie seemed to realize Misty's wishes, as she squeaked up to Ash. Ash came over, being careful to keep the caterpillar as far away from his girlfriend at first. He asked her calmly. "You alright, you went quiet after I caught her."

"I'm fine..." she whispered, quietly. Her eyes locked with Caterpie's. Her hand shook a little, almost moving upwards. She eventually willed it to move and tried to touch the Pokemon. Ash was surprised, but what had was expected. Misty's arm froze, her eyes widening as she began to sob uncontrollably. "I can't do it..." she whispered, falling to the ground again.

"I don't expect you to be able to yet, Mist. Just relax, get to know Caterpie before you try again," Ash said, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "You'll be able to do so one day, and it's not your fault that your scared after all. If there's someone you should blame this on, blame that monster that called himself your father."

"Uh huh..."

The group continued walking through the forest, Misty nervously holding onto Ash's hand as he lead her the quickest way through. Max, on the other hand, was smiling at all the different Pokemon. He ran round around like a Pikachu, in fact the Pikachu of the group was messing around with him. Well, he was messing around until he bumped into someone. He rubbed his bruised nose before saying. "I'm sorry!"

He looked up to see the person he had bumped in to, it was a woman with long magenta hair and blue eyes. She had a man with her, that had lavender-blue hair and green. In between them on the floor was a Meowth, that was upright on it's back paws. The two didn't look the kindest, as the girl said in a sickly sweet voice. "Oh, that's alright. We were going to talk to you anyway, so we -" she paused, her voice growing crueler from the sickly sweet tone it had been. "Steal your Pokemon."

"Steal our Pokemon?!" Ash gasped, not liking the sound of what she had just said or how she said it. "Why would you do something like that?"

"Because we're Team Rocket," the Meowth said, surprising the trio. There was a talking Pokemon before them, using actual English. "And Team Rocket steals Pokemon for our boss! Now, please begin, Jess!"

The woman nodded, before chanting a few words. "Prepare for Trouble!"

The man next to her continued with. "And make it double!"

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all people within our nation!"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now, or prepare to fight!"

"Meowth! That's right!" the talking Pokemon joined in for the last line, before grinning. "Now hand over your Pokemon!"

"Never!" Misty yelled, before grabbing one of her poke balls. She didn't even check to see which one it was, she just yelled out as she threw it. "Go!" when the Pokemon appeared, she continued with. "Vaporeon!"

The two human members of Team Rocket chuckled as they threw out their own Pokemon. A Koffing and a Ekans, the two poison types looking ready for battle. Ash didn't not to let Misty handle it on her own - she probably could - and called Pikachu over. The two began to engage in a double battle of sorts. Though, it was more Misty versus James and Ash versus Jessie.

"Vaporeon, Water Gun!" the Bubble Jet Pokemon's mouth opened wide, a stream of water rushing out of it within instance. It slammed into the Koffing, without giving it much chance.

"Koffing, use Sludge!" James yelled out, without caring that his Pokemon could have been hurt. The Sludge began to shot at Vaporeon, who dodged out of the way gracefully.

"Vaporeon, Aurora Beam!" Misty called, as her Pokemon did exactly that. She shoot a powerful mixture of colors, that formed an aurora-like design. The Koffing must not have been strong enough to last the second hit and fell to the ground, with swirly anime-style eyes.

"Pikachu, Thunderbolt!" her boyfriend called, whilst that was going on.

"Ekans, dodge it with Dig!" the Ekans jumped up, before digging it's way under ground where it couldn't be hit by the electric attack. Pikachu had been a little surprised by this, which gave Jessie the chuckles. She believed she had won this match and she believed Pikachu was a weak newly-caught Pokemon. "Stay underground, Ekans and attack when your close!"

"Pikachu, Iron Tail!" Ash yelled out, as Pikachu jumped high into the air and slammed his metallic tail down on the ground. Ekans was forced upwards, giving Ash the chance to give Pikachu another command. "Volt Tackle!"

Pikachu lunged forward, wrapping his electrical energy around him. The electricity formed a force-field that combined with Quick Attack was very powerful. He slammed into the Ekans, who was still stunned from Iron Tail, and fainted it quite quickly. Team Rocket wasn't impressed by the fact they had lost, but they were impressed by the Pikachu knowing Volt Tackle and Iron Tail. "You think that's all we have?!"

Misty chuckled a little, throwing another poke ball out to reveal Staryu. She was quick to give the command she wanted "Togetic, Staryu. Use Psychic to get rid of these two and their Meowth!"

The two Pokemon glowed blue as Togetic's eyes and Staryu's gem brightened. Soon Team Rocket and Meowth were glowing the same color and shot into the air with high speeds, screaming out. "Team Rocket are blasting off again!"

"Again?" Ash questioned, keeping his gaze from the flying Team Rocket as they seemed to form a star as they disappeared from view, to Pikachu The electric rodent had made his way onto the boy's shoulder. "Do you think they do this often?"

"Pika?" the Pokemon asked, just as confused as his trainer.

Ash then smiled, turning around and walking over to Caterpie. The poor bug type had ran off to hide behind a tree when Team Rocket appeared, so Ash said in a soothing voice to the Worm Pokemon. "You can come out now, Caterpie. Those weirdos have gone," Caterpie didn't make the effort to move, causing Ash to walk forward and try to talk at the same time. "Cat-"

But an arm suddenly appeared before him, which could be traced by the Misty. "It's alright, Ash. Allow me.." her voice was filled with fear, but he allowed her to go towards the bug type. She walked over to Caterpie, kneeling down in front of the female Pokemon. "Hey, Caterpie. Ash is right, it's perfectly safe for you to come on out now," she gently move her hand in front of the Pokemon. She seemed to be coaxing the Worm Pokemon to come onto her shoulder. Caterpie smiled, wiggling her small body up the girl's arm. Misty's face filled with fear, but she soon relaxed and allowed Caterpie to stay on her shoulder as she walked back to Ash.

"That's it, Misty. Your letting her touch you now," Ash complimented, as he removed Caterpie from his girlfriend's shoulder. He held the young Pokemon in front of him as he said, kindly. "How about you try to pet her now, see if your able to?"

Misty was uncertain, but she eventually moved her hand up. It took some team, but eventually her hand made contact with Caterpie's head. Suddenly, something seemed to change in her as she said in an excited voice. "So fluffy!" she even took Caterpie back from Ash and snuggled her closely. "I never expected her to be this soft and cuddly!" she squealed, happily.

Ash thought of something, holding Misty's free hand. "How about this, Mist? We could head back to Viridian City and trade ownership, I'll let you have Caterpie and you can give me one of your Pokemon so you don't need to send one back to Professor Oak."

Misty seemed to be in thought after she heard that, but she eventually nodded with a small smile. "It's to allow me to raise a bug type myself, isn't it?" She allowed Caterpie to crawl onto her shoulder as she asked. "What do you say, Caterpie?"

The Pokemon squealed in agreement, wanting to be Misty's Pokemon it seemed. So, the group headed back to Viridian City. The two lovers swapped Pokemon, Misty obviously getting Caterpie and Ash obtained her Goldeen. He was quick to say hello to the water type, whilst Misty continue to snuggle Caterpie. After that, they headed back to the forest on the way to Pewter City. But that wouldn't be their only goal before they arrived at their destination.

* * *

I hope you enjoyed Caterpie's introduction, the gender difference and the twist with Misty owning it. And Team Rocket's first appearance.

Ash

Pikachu (Male)

Charizard (Male)

Bulbasaur (Male)

Goldeen (Female)

Misty

Togetic (Female)

Vaporeon (Female)

Staryu (Genderless)(Considered female)

Luvdisc (Caserin)(Male)

Squirtle (Male)

Caterpie (Female)

Max

Treecko (Male)

Kirlia (Male)


	5. Evolution

The group continued their walk through the forest, Misty was making sure to keep attention to her new Caterpie. Pikachu was scurrying in front, keeping a look out for potential trainers. Suddenly, they came across a young boy with a samurai sword. He was holding a poke ball in his hand, tossing it up and down whilst saying in a somewhat insulting voice. "Are you a new trainer, kid?"

Ash wasn't amused though, this boy looked younger then him and he was the one getting called a 'kid'? "Well, I guess you could say that I'm a new trainer," he remarked, since he had been trained to handle Pokemon since quite the young age. He never once considered himself a 'new' trainer, it was not a term that fit his criteria. "Why are you asking?"

"Because, I wish to battle all new trainers. To test their skills in battle and prove whether they can advance to Pewter City or not. So, I challenge you to a Pokemon Battle. My Pinsir against your Pikachu," the samurai said, confidence flooding through his tone, he threw his poke ball up again and this time it released to reveal his Pinser. The reveal of the bug type made Misty a little nervous, but she stayed relatively calm with the help of Togetic and Caterpie.

Ash sighed, knowing that he would have to. He looked at his electric type Pokemon with a half-smile. He wasn't sure if he wanted to battle, but he knew that Pikachu would want to. "Well, Pikachu. You ready for a battle?"

"Pika!" the Pokemon nodded, hoping forward so he stood opposite the Pinsir with a confident smile. Ash nodded, now agreeing with his Pokemon's confidence. He even shared Pikachu's confident smile.

"Pikachu, Thunderbolt!" "Catch it with Vice Grip!" the two trainers yelled at the same time, their Pokemon acting out their respective moves. Before Pikachu could release his energy, his tail was caught by Pinsir's move and he wiggled, fearing he was trapped for certain.

"Pikachu, Iron Tail. Charge it with your Thunderbolt!" Ash yelled. Pikachu's tail shimmered like steel, as electricity began to spark off the electric type's body and surged into the Pinsir's via their connection. It forced the Stag Beetle Pokemon to let go and shake with the electric pulses running through it's body. "Pikachu, finish it off with a Quick Attack!"

Pikachu darted forward, a white trail seemingly appearing around him. He suddenly disappeared from the samurai's vision, but reappeared just as he slammed his whole body into Pinsir's body. The Pokemon had already been stunned prior and wasn't able to defend against the oncoming attack. It soon stumbled and collapsed to the ground behind him.

The samurai sighed, recalling his Pokemon. "You proved yourself, trainer. Your Pikachu is very strong, especially considering I can only assume you have yet to obtain a gym badge. So your one of those trainers, who learnt in school, before they came out into the field," he nodded, giving a smile. He then looked between Ash and Misty. "So, is this your girlfriend or something?"

Ash wasn't sure how to answer, so Misty did with a nod of her head. "Yeah, we're been an item for about a year now..." she gently petted Caterpie's head as she said it. "I love him for many reasons, lots I don't you'd ever understand."

The boy nodded, giving a minor frown. He then looked up at her Caterpie and asked. "Is that a newly caught Pokemon, most Caterpie evolve within a few hours of capture with the correct training," he grabbed another poke ball to reveal his evolved Caterpie - Metapod. "So, you wanna battle? I'll help you evolve your Caterpie. My Metapod only knows Harden, I caught him in this state. So, your Caterpie should be able to handle him quite well."

"You wanna try, girl?" Misty whispered, looking at the Worm Pokemon. Said Pokemon soon gave a joyful squeak, as she jumped to the ground before the Metapod to confirm her answer. Misty fumbled a little, trying to remember her Pokemon's moves but she eventually smiled as she called out. "Caterpie, use Electroweb!"

Electrical energy spat from Caterpie's lips, as she spat the electrified web at her opponent. It encased the Metapod within it's sticky confines, the electricity shocking the bigger Pokemon. It also seemed to decrease the Metapod's speed, indicated by the flash of red light that appeared around the Pokemon. Misty smiled. "Now, that's it's held down. Use Tackle!"

The Tackle seemed to do the trick, even with Metapod's hardening shell. As he soon rocked backwards and hit the floor with a thud. Seconds later, Caterpie found herself glowing with evolution. She gave a smile, shooting a String Shot into the air. The sticky string wrapped around her body and went it cracked away, it revealed that she had evolved into a Metapod. Misty smiled, but shook a little as she grabbed her pokedex and looked at her evolved Pokemon's data. No new moves, as Harden didn't replace anything - her Metapod had chosen against having the move.

Ash grinned, walking over to his girlfriend. "Good work, Metapod doesn't take long to evolve into the final form of Butterfree after it first evolves into this form. So you likely don't have long to wait before you'll have a Butterfree on your team."

She gave a slow nod as she moved over to Metapod, she slowly picked the much bigger Pokemon up. She gave a hearty smile, hugging the Pokemon close. It was very different, Metapod wasn't fluffy like her pre-evolution. It was much rougher to hug her, she had to give up shortly after beginning. She gently placed her new Pokemon back down and looked between her and Togetic. "You two stay here, I'm just gonna thank the nice boy for helping out."

"Ticku~" "Me-ta," the two Pokemon said as they seemed to nod.

Misty stood up straight and went back to the samurai, a small plastered on her face. "Thank you for helping me evolve my Caterpie, she probably would have stayed like that if you didn't so I'm glad you did."

"Glad to help."

She turned back around to get her Pokemon when she saw Togetic screaming out and Metapod missing. She looked up, in the direction that her beloved Pokemon was looking, and saw Metapod in the stingers of some Beedrill that appeared out of nowhere. "NO, Metapod!" she screamed loudly, rushing through the trees without a second thought. She knew that the trees would just block the recall system that the poke balls had, so it would be useless to try to recall his Pokemon. No, she had to get Metapod back herself.

"Misty, wait!" Ash tried to yell, as he ran to catch up with her.

She didn't slow down though, she was so worried about her Pokemon. She even ignored as a thorn pierced the skin of her cheek, drawing blood. She eventually came across the Beedrill's home, seeing Metapod at the base of a tree. The tree had many Kakunas hanging from the branches. They were preparing to evolve and must have wanted absolute silence. She decided to give them that, anything to save Metapod. So, as quietly as she could, she ran over to her bug type and reached out to pick up the Metapod.

She held the Cocoon Pokemon close to her, as she tried to head back to her friends. She didn't want to be around the Kakuna any longer, they could evolve at any moment and she definitely didn't want to deal with Beedrill. But she was soon encountered by the same trio that she and Ash had battled earlier in the day. The woman, Jessie, looked even more unimpressed. "We're not going to allow a little twerp like you ruin our job, now hand over to Pokemon."

"No!" Misty quietly cried, holding Metapod away from the group. She was trying to keep quiet, she didn't want an angry mob of Beedrill after her. They were scary enough, without making them angry.

"Give it here!" James called, which alerted the Kakuna behind Misty. It seemed to trigger their evolution as within seconds, the cocoons were broken to reveal newly evolved Beedrill. Misty whimpered, falling to her knees at the same. She hugged her Cocoon Pokemon close, scared of what the Pokemon will do to her and the bug type. Luckily, the Beedrill went after Team Rocket - they had been the ones to yell after all. Well, it was 'luckily'. As one stayed behind, deciding to punish Misty for taking Metapod Back.

It's stinger became filled with poison that it shot towards the girl, she dodged most of them but one of the Poison Stings embedded into her leg. She whimpered, tears filling her eyes. Where was Ash when she needed him? Though, it seemed as though Metapod understood her freight. Within seconds, the Pokemon seemed to be growling? Her cocoon then cracked down the center and a Butterfree emerged, fully evolved and ready to protect her trainer. "Butterfree...?" she whispered, watching the Pokemon flying in front of her protectively.

Suddenly a gust of wind wrapped around the area, originating from Butterfree's wings. Misty held her pokedex up and scanned Butterfree, Tackle had been replaced with Gust and String Shot with Confusion when Butterfree fully evolved. She gasped, watching as Butterfree's eyes lit up like how Togetic's did when she was using Psychic. "Confusion..." the move blasted at the Beedrill, it was super effective and both Pokemon were newly evolved. It didn't take any more then 2 Confusion blasts to knock the Beedrill to the ground.

Ash and Max ran over, just as the Beedrill hit the ground. The older boy gasped at the sight of the poisoned 'dart' in his girlfriend's leg, but he tried to stay calm and said. "Are you alright?..."

"Y-yea..." Misty whispered with a weak voice, as her Butterfree flew into her arms. She hugged the Pokemon closely, breathing slowly with her eyes closed for a little while. She looked at her boyfriend, a slight pained expression on her face. But it soon changed into a smile, she didn't want to lie but she didn't want to frighten him. "It's just a little poison, I dodged the majority of the Poison Stings..."

Ash nodded slowly, getting one of his antidotes out. He sprayed her gently, antidotes were't made for humans but they definitely took the edge of pain and slowed the poison's progression. "Here, that should help," he says gently, wrapping a bandage around the wound after he pulled the sting out of the girl's leg. "We should get going before the Beedrill come back."

Max nodded in agreement with the older boy, smiling. "Yeah. We should get going, Misty. We need to get to Pewter City anyway."

Misty smiled, managing to stand up. She wobbled a little, but never actually collapsed or needed Ash's help. The group then left the Beedrill's home and continue their walk through the final part of the Viridian Forest, so they could arrive in Pewter City. As she walked, she kept her eyes on the bandage on her leg. It wasn't the first energy she had received, considering the letter-shaped scars on her back. But she didn't care, she was with Ash now and she knew he'd protect her. Yeah, what she could focus on now was getting to Pewter City with her boyfriend and adoptive brother.

* * *

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, wait until tomorrow for the next chapter :)

Ash

Pikachu (Male)

Charizard (Male)

Bulbasaur (Male)

Goldeen (Female)

Misty

Togetic (Female)

Vaporeon (Female)

Staryu (Genderless)(Considered female)

Luvdisc (Caserin)(Male)

Squirtle (Male)

Butterfree (Female)

Max

Treecko (Male)

Kirlia (Male)


	6. First gym battle

The group arrived on the outskirts of Pewter City, Misty laid down on a large rock. Her leg was beginning to hurt her, the bandage beginning to look quite bloody. Ash looked at her concerned, walking over and pulling the bandage off. The wound was bleeding faintly, but it was the purple splotches that concerned him. "I think we need to hurry to the Pokemon center, the antidote we used is beginning to wear off..."

Misty nodded weakly, looking pale in the face. The only color that remained on her face was a faint blush that bridged her nose, she looked ready to faint. She swayed a little, only to land on Ash's back - the boy had moved fast enough after seeing her pale face. He was about to walk to the city, when a voice filled his ears. "So, are you children going to get your feet off my merchandise and get that girl to the center?"

"Yes," Ash gave a annoyed reply to the man, who was below them. "We're going to go now." he then turned to his girlfriend's adoptive brother and asked. "Run along ahead and inform me of where the center is."

"Okay," the young boy said as he ran off, Pikachu followed after him.

Ash struggled with Misty's position, the girl had now fainted from her poisoned fever. He eventually managed to get her into a comfortable place so he could walk to the city, Max eventually returned and showed him the location. They soon arrived at the Pokemon Center, Nurse Joy imminently caught sight of Misty and ran over with concern in her eyes. "What happened to her, young man?"

Ash was quick to reply, shuffling Misty's position into his arms bridal style. "Beedrill's Poison Sting, her Butterfree protected her and I gave her a antidote, but the poison's catching up to her and she fainted as we arrived."

Nurse Joy nodded in understanding, taking Misty from the older of the two boys. She was about to walk away, when she remembered something and said in a caring and calm voice. "You are the two from the phone call a few days back, the girl you called is still here and was waiting for you. I'll pump the rest of the poison out of this girl whilst you talk to her."

"Okay," Ash said, with a worry for his girlfriend embedded in him. He searched around the Pokemon center, until he saw a distinct green nest of hair. Nearby was May's distinct brunette hair, he walked over to the two teens and greeted them with a smile despite his worried eyes. "Hi, May, Drew. Has your contest already happened, if so how did you two do?"

"Oh, hi, Ash. We were wondering when you'd get here. No, our contest hasn't happened yet," Drew said, giving a smile at his long-time friend. Max had ran over and hugged his older sister, causing Drew to continue. "Hey there too, Max. It's been a while huh."

"You two, Drew," the young boy smiled, hugging his sister closely.

But, May didn't seem concerned about her brother much - her arms did return the hug. She looked at Ash and asked. "Where is Misty?"

"Oh, as we walked for the Viridian Forest, she got poisoned by a Beedrill. So Nurse Joy has taken her to remove the remaining poison from her blood, as she fainted just as we arrived," Ash explained. "She'll be fine soon enough and she wasn't poisoned bad, only one of the poison stings got into her body as she managed to dodge and then her Butterfree protected her."

"Butterfree?" May said with surprise. She then thought and continued with a small statement. "And here I thought that the only bug type she could handle was my Beautifly..."

"I was the one to catch Butterfree - when she was a Caterpie -, but Misty wanted to get over her fear and so we traded. Earlier today, Caterpie evolved twice and is now Butterfree," he looked behind him at Misty's two flying types. Togetic was panicky and was being comforted by Butterfree.

May frowned a little, walking over to the two flying types. Togetic saw her and flew into her arms with some worried tears in her eyes, May smiled gently as she looked mostly at Butterfree. "Hey there, Togetic. So your my adoptive sister's new Pokemon?

"Free~" the Pokemon cried, looking up at May as she nodded.

May continued her small smile, trying to calm Togetic with a soothing voice. "Togetic, your mommy will be fine. Daddy said that it's only a mild poisoning, she should be back on her feet quite soon and you'll be able to hug her again."

Ash sighed at being called 'daddy' - he didn't disagree with it, but it was still quite awkward. But he listened as Togetic gave a worried cry, that could be translated to 'are you sure?' "Toge...toge-ticku?..."

"She's right," came a voice only a few moments later. May and the Pokemon turned to see Misty - who still had a pale face, but overall looked better then she had before. The tangerine haired girl smiled as her two Pokemon flew into her arms. "Aw, thanks for worrying about me, Togetic, Butterfree. I'm fine now, all the poison removed from my system according to Nurse Joy," she then looked up at her adoptive sister and said. "Thanks for comforting her, May. I missed you."

"Me too, sis," May chuckled, looking at her adoptive older sister. She walked over and hugged the girl from behind, so she didn't hurt the Pokemon. "I got a little worried to be true, when Ash told us about the poison. But I knew you'd pull through, especially if you managed to pull through a past like you had..."

"Y-yea," Misty quietly nodded, before whispering. "Please don't remind me..."

"I'm sorry, sis..."

Ash walked over to the two girls and smiled somewhat, taking Misty's hand onto his own. "Are you sure that your alright?"

"I'm fine, Ash. Don't worry about me. You should head out to find the gym, you have enough time left in the day to battle," the girl smiled, she was telling the truth as it was only about 6 in the afternoon. They had spent the night after trading in the forest, so they had only spend a couple of hours awake. Besides, she wanted to see Ash battle against the gym leader.

"I guess that's true..." he muttered, before looking at his feet where Pikachu was. "You think we should head over?"

"Pika!" the Pokemon gave a familiar smile. He knew he wouldn't be the one battling, but he didn't care much. No, the ones battling were Bulbasaur and Goldeen for their type advantages. Whilst Pikachu could battle against the rock/ground types and win, Ash wanted to use his newer Pokemon to make sure they gained as much experience as their pika-pal.

"Guess we should get going then," the boy smiled, as Pikachu ran up his back and onto his shoulder. "You coming, you lot?"

Max and Drew came over and shared their nod with the girls. Misty stayed the closer to Ash on the route to the gym, she began talking to him about how she wanted to watch the gym leader closer. She wanted to learn how gym leaders ran the place. As they neared the gym, she gently said, slightly nervous. "I hope to learn...by watching your battle..."

The boy grinned. "Then I'll make sure that the gym leader has plenty of chances to teach you."

She nodded, as they arrived at the gym. The front seemed made of rock, to the point where the gym name was craved into the top of a giant stone. Ash just smiled though, as he pushed the door open. The room was quite dark, but eventually the lights were switched on and standing opposite the group was the gym leader. The older man, looking to be around 19/20, had brown spiky hair and his eyes were closed. He seemed to look at them - how that was possible with his eyes closed was unclear. "So, one of you is my next challenger?"

"That would be me," Ash declared, walking over to the other side of the rocky battle field. Pikachu was on his shoulder, giving a cheeky smile at the older lad. "I'm here to win my first gym badge."

"That's fine with me," the gym leader said, as he watched everyone else go up onto the balcony. Except for Misty, who watched from the door with intrigued eyes. He then continued. "I'm Brock, the rock gym leader of Kanto. Let it be known that if you plan to use that Pikachu, the battle won't be an easy win."

"Well, Pikachu could easily beat your rock types with Iron Tail. But that'd be too easy for an experienced Pokemon like him," the raven haired boy countered, before grabbing one of his other three poke balls. He knew which one he needed to pick immediately, since Misty had caught Goldeen in a lure ball. He threw the ball out, sending the Goldfish Pokemon out straight away. Misty smiled a little at her former Pokemon that she traded to him before Butterfree, knowing that he would treat the fish well.

"Goldeen is your choice, hmm not many trainers who come for their first badge have one," Brock commented, as he released his Geodude. "So, may I ask how you obtained it?"

"Well, my girlfriend Misty aspires to look after water Pokemon. There's a lake in our hometown and she caught Goldeen there. But later we traded, her obtaining my Caterpie - now a Butterfree - and me obtaining her Goldeen," Ash explained. "So, do we start this battle?"

"Yep. 2 on 2, you are the only one who's allowed substitutions," Brock said, as the referee standing nearby nodded. Within only a few moments, the battle was announced to have began. "Goedude, Tackle!"

"Goldeen, Water Gun!" Goldeen opened her mouth, before shooting a large amount of water. As the water gushed over to the Geodude, she was hit by the Tackle and slammed into the wall. She was very vulnerable on the land, but she was putting up a good fight as she managed to leap back up and onto the field as the water gun smashed into Geodude's rocky shell. With the four times weakness, it didn't take long for Geodude to be put out of the actions. It's body nearly crumbling from the water pressure.

Brock nodded, accepting the first round as a defeat. The referee then called out. "Geodude is unable to battle, Goldeen is the winner."

"Alright!" Ash yelled, but he grabbed the lure ball that was linked to the Goldfish Pokemon. "Have a good rest, your not the only one in this battle."

"Deen," the water type nodded, understanding that Ash also wanted Bulbasaur to battle. She watched Brock closely as the red light emitted from her ball to recall her, she gave a confident smile that Ash would win. Even without her.

"So your not using your Goldeen against my Onix?" Brock said, as he threw Onix's poke ball into the air and watched as the colossal snake emerged. "What other Pokemon are you going to attempt to use against my strongest?"

"Nope," the raven haired boy said as he threw Bulbasaur's ball, letting it crack open to reveal the Seed Pokemon. He then grinned at Brock, letting him take in the idea that he had the grass starter. "Bulbasaur can handle your Onix well enough, without Goldeen needing to weaken it. Isn't that right, Bulbasaur?"

"Bulba-bulbasaur!" the Pokemon yelled, confidence reigning clear. He gave a smirk at the Onix, seemingly taunting it - even though he didn't have the move.

"Bulbasaur, Sludge Bomb!" the Seed Pokemon's mouth opened and his sludge threw out. 5 balls were made in mid air and slammed into Onix's body in multiple places.

"Onix, Tackle!" Brock countered, his massive snake like Pokemon charging forward and slamming into the much smaller Pokemon. Bulbsaur didn't care much, confidence still reigning. Brock didn't finish though, yelling out "Rock Tomb! Slow it down!"

The Rock tomb encased Bulbasaur, Ash was a little scared. But suddenly the Rock were blasted apart, leaving Bulbasaur free. He looked a little injured though, Ash decided to check with his poke dex in case of a new move - the blasting didn't look much like Tackle. He read it out loud, praising his Pokemon with a grin. "Take Down, a recoil move. But well done, Bulbasaur!"

"Bulba!" the Pokemon grinned, taking in the praise well. Suddenly, he seemed to glow in a bright white color. His Bulb cracked open, as the opened petals changed to resemble leaves. He grew bigger and little fangs appeared from the base of his lips. As the light disperse, it revealed Bulbasaur to be no more. Instead, there stood his evolved form of Ivysaur. "Saur!"

"You evolved!" Ash praised with a bright smile. "A new move and a new form, your not going to lose now. Are you, Ivysaur?!"

"Ivy-saur!" his Pokemon agreed, his red eyes gleaming with confidence. The form change had scared Onix and it's trainer quite a lot, both having not expecting it to happen.

"Ivysaur, Giga Drain!" vines shot from just below the open bulb on Ivysaur's back, wrapping around Onix before Brock could command it to do anything. Suddenly light glowed through the vines, representing the energy he was stealing from the Rock Snake. He seemed to glow green as his health was replenished, whilst the Onix fainted from the super effective move.

Brock gave a small sigh, he knew that once the Pokemon had evolved then he wouldn't win. So he swiftly recalled Onix and walked over to Ash, dropping one of his gym badges into the younger boy's hands. "You were correct by your phrase 'your not going to lose now'. Ivysaur's evolution scared me and Onix greatly. So, with your win against me, I give you the Boulder Badge."

"Thank you, Brock. I hadn't plan on Ivysaur evolving in this battle," Ash replied, as Ivysaur came to stand by his leg. "Prior to obtaining Goldeen, I did plan to use Pikachu. To prove that he could beat rock/ground types, but I know now that I would never have needed him."

"If your Pikachu is as strong as you mention, then I'm glad you didn't use him," Brock chuckled, reaching to pet the electric mouse on Ash's shoulder. He got a pleasant 'chaa' from the Pokemon as his hand made contact with Pikachu's head. "Do you have any other Pokemon, might I ask?"

"Well, I do. I'd just rather not let him out in your gym, if you don't want everything to burn down when he uses Flamethrower to greet me..." Ash grumbled, no sense of sarcasm could be traced in his voice so Brock nodded his head. Ash sighed, but eventually gave a smile. "He's my Charizard and always greets me the same way, I've just gotten used to it by now. Still burns sometimes though."

Brock made no questions and looked up at a clock that hung above the door. "You children should head back to the Pokemon Center now, it's quite late and I'm sure that some of you have things to do tomorrow."

May and Drew nodded to one another, remembering that their contest was the next day. Max was yawning and almost fell asleep into May's arms, the trio soon excused themselves from the gym. Misty, on the other hand, didn't look tired or had anything in particular to do the next day - besides watch her sister's contest. She walked over, with a blush. "Um, Brock. How did you become a gym leader?" though internally, she was cursing herself form her nervousness. ' _I thought we got over this, me!_ '

"Well, my father disappeared a while back. To become a Pokemon trainer, which lead to my mom leaving heart-broken. With no one left to take care of my nine younger siblings and the gym, I took on the roll," he then looked at Misty's dejected face. "I suppose that's not what you wanted to hear, is it?"

"Not really..." Misty whispered, sadly. "My mom used to run the Cerulean gym...and I want to take it over when Ash is finished with his Pokemon journey...but I don't know how to become the gym leader..."

"Well, I assume that your next destination is Cerulean City itself. Maybe you could ask the temporary gym leader."

"Temporary?...I though that since my mom abandoned everything that they would have gotten a permanent gym leader..."

"They never did," Brock explained. "They knew that the woman had 4 daughters, no names were ever mentioned to the public, and so they wanted to wait until one of them came to pick the gym up. So when you get there, you can ask them about it."

"Alright..." Misty whispered, saddened that she hadn't gotten anywhere yet. Togetic flew over and patted her shoulder, trying to comfort her.

"Come on, Mist," Ash said, with a frown. "We should be heading back to the Pokemon Center, you could do with a rest after that poisoning incident and I'm sure you can't wait to see May and Drew's performances tomorrow.."

"I guess that's true..." Misty nodded. With that, the two teens went after their friends and leaving Brock back at the gym. It had been a long day and they were all willing to bed down for the night - after some supper of course.

* * *

As of this chapter (And the last technically), I'll be rewriting many of the anime episodes. Though, there will be some skipped episodes for various reasons. And new chapters included for other reasons.

Another reference to the video game canon, most players have their starters evolve straight after the gym battle with Brock. I've never used an Bulbasaur, but I know from using Squirtle and Charmander that they do evolve after this battle.

Ash

Pikachu (Male)

Charizard (Male)

Ivysaur (Male)

Goldeen (Female)

Misty

Togetic (Female)

Vaporeon (Female)

Staryu (Genderless)(Considered female)

Luvdisc (Caserin)(Male)

Squirtle (Male)

Butterfree (Female)

Max

Treecko (Male)

Kirlia (Male)


	7. Contest Love

The next day began with a bang, Ash had literally banged into Misty's room. The poor girl had been terrified, but eventually calmed down and glared at her boyfriend was waking her up. Ash's justification was that May and Drew's contest was beginning soon, giving a bright smile to his annoyed girlfriend. "Come on, Mist. Stop glaring and lets go cheer your sister and her boyfriend on."

She sighed, but nodded her head. "Fine..." she followed after Ash as he walked downstairs, they quickly ate their breakfast and went over to the contest hall. It was bright and bubbly place, painted with a dark purple gleam. May was waiting for them, instantly smiling and waving her hand highly as she jumped up. Misty, when she was close enough, asked with a small smile. "Hi, May. Where's Drew?"

"Oh, he's already indoors with his Pokemon. I decided to wait for you whilst letting him register us," May explained, giving a grin. The four teens walked into the building and encountered Drew, who May ran over to and hugged him. "Hi, Drew!"

Drew smiled, but pushed her away gently. He then explained his reasoning. "Remember, May. When we're here, we are rivals and not lovers. We can't let our relationship hinder our competition."

"Oh right," May sighing a little. She wanted to just be all lovey-dovey with her boyfriend, but she understood that they were supposed to be rivals in the contest setting. She gave a small smile and said. "I'm sorry, I'll try not to cling onto you..."

"Have you finished planning your routine, by the way?" he asked, changing the topic to avoid any awkwardness. His Roselia suddenly appeared next to him, having walked over. "My routine is ready."

"Yep, me, Glaceon and Skitty are prepared for the routine," she threw her two poke balls in the air, the Kitten and Fresh Snow Pokemon appeared with almost dramatic poses behind their trainer. "It's the double performance format for this one, so I thought a ice combination would be nice to begin with, but also messing with Skitty's Assist."

"I see, well I hope you make it into the battle round," he said, as announcements were given for the contest to begin.

Ash, Misty and Max went to sit on the viewing seats. They watched the performances closely, waiting for their friends to show up. Of the two, the first to preform was Drew. He had two poke balls in her hands, which he soon threw out. The Pokemon burst out, revealing his Roselia and Masquerain. He seemed quite confident as he called out. "Roselia, Magical Leaf," he paused and focused his gaze onto his other Pokemon. "Masquerain, Ice Beam."

Roselia's shoot a field of leafs into the air. Many of them glows brightly as they shot from the female Pokemon. Then Drew's other Pokemon spat ice from his mouth, freezing each of the leaves in mid air. It looked stunning to say the least. "Now, Masquerain. Use Silver Wind!" a large gust of wind filled the stadium and crowd, causing many delighted gasps from the audience. The silver crescents formed in the gust moved the iced leaves and cut them up into tiny sparkles that glimmered and fell down on the stage in a beautiful array of color.

The crowd around Ash and Misty lit up with applause, soon promoting the two love birds to join in. Points were dished up, giving a happy 27.8 for Drew. It was almost certain to net him to slot in the next round of the contest. A few more coordinators came out and preformed, leaving May to be the last performance seen in the round. She walked onto the stage, smile on her face. She grasped her two poke balls and soon Glaceon and Skitty joined her on the stage. "Glaceon, Ice Beam. Skitty, Blizzard!"

The two ice moves collided, forming tiny particles of ice in the air around them. "Skitty, Assist!" May continued her performance with her Kitten Pokemon, as Skitty chose a random move from her teammates' movesets. This time it being Fire Spin from May's Blaziken, which caused May to smile on realization. Her little mouth opened and fire shot out around the stage, it swirled and spiraled around the ice speckles. It caused the ice to shimmer brightly due to the fire reflecting in it. "Now, Glaceon, use Iron Tail!"

"Glacey!" came her Pokemon's cry as his tail lit up brightly. The tail slammed into the fire and ice mix and it suddenly burst apart into shimmering hail, with a red gleam. The 'hail' was hot to the touch, heated from the fire, but the main part was still icy cold. So they shattered apart hitting the ground, releasing a burst of flames in a circle around May and her two Pokemon as they bowed. The crowd was hesitate for a second, before the crowd came alive with applause for the beautiful performance. The performance granted May a 28.3 and she gave a happy smile, knowing how high her chance was to go to the next round. Her happiness was seen especially when she hugged her two Pokemon closely.

Misty smiled, happy for her adoptive sister. She leaned her head against Ash and whispered. "She is amazing, isn't she?"

"Yeah, her bond with her Pokemon and the performance she showed today was stunning," he nodded, giving a smile. "I wonder how she'll do in the double battle for the next round, it could change everything if she's not used to battling."

"I know, but lets cheer her on," Misty smiled, waiting for the announcer to speak again.

He soon did, using his charismatic voice. "The coordinators moving onto the next round are shown on the screen above," the screen showing the coordinators, who had preformed in the performance round, suddenly flashed as two faces were lit up: May and Drew. They had received the highest amount of points in the last round and thus were moving onto the next round, the battle round. Misty smiled, glad from her sister. But there was some concern, she didn't know who to cheer for. She cared about her sister and Drew a lot, she didn't want either to lose.

The battle round began 5 minutes later, the two coordinators stood opposite each other on the field. May grinned, her Beautifly and Blaziken next to her. Drew had his surprising duo of Absol and Flygon. The pair waited until time began and they began their battle. May was quick on her feet, calling out. "Beautifly, Sliver Wind. Blaziken, Blaze Kick!"

She didn't give orders as to who to attack, she figured that it would matter with the dazzling display. Silver Wind wrapped around the field, the crescent moons slapping into Flygon's body. Flygon returned the attack with Flamethrower, that Beautifly barely missed with only a wing getting burned. Meanwhile, Blaze Kick slammed into Absol's back. Absols were known for frail defenses, but Drew had been more careful with his by working on it's defenses. So, it was able to stay awake after the hit and shot a Water Pulse back.

Blaziken wasn't as lucky as his partner, falling to the floor for a brief moment due to the hit. It concerned May, who asked. "Blaziken, are you alright?" he eventually stood up, confirming her worries as false. "Blaziken, Sky Uppercut! Beautifly, Psychic!"

Beautifly's eyes glowed blue as she levitated Flygon out of the way, Blaziken was thus allowed to slam his giant fists into Absol's neck. With the type advantage, Absol stood no chance and wobbled a bit before collapsing in a heap. It deducted a lot of Drew's points, with the fact he only had one non-fainted Pokemon now on the field. "Flygon, Flamethrower. Remove the Beautifly!"

Flygon flew into the air and blazed down on the field with a powerful Flamethrower, Beautifly wasn't able to dodge the second hit and fell to the ground. Her body heavily burnt, the flickering flames showed her status condition. With only one Pokemon on each side, it had left the points to an even. May made the first move, trying to get an upper hand on her boyfriend's Pokemon. "Blaziken, Mega Kick!"

Blaziken nodded. "Blaze!" he cried as he jumped into the air, his giant foot preparing to hit Flygon in the back.

"Dodge, Flygon and attack with Dragon Breath!" Drew yelled, Flygon squealed out it's name and flew just out of the way in time. It then turned back on itself and shot the powerful move at Blaziken.

Blaziken was barely standing, but May was fast to make her call. She wanted to win greatly and Blaziken seemed to agree with her as he hopped up after she gave her yell. "Don't let it end like this, Blaziken. Use Fire Spin!" Blaziken breathed the flames out, spinning as they formed a spiral of flames around him. They hit Flygon, before it was able to dodge again. It shook before fainting to the floor, giving May the win.

The announcer came over to her and gave her the badge, which she smiled happily. Drew came over and said. "Congratulations, your quick reactions definitely helped you win this badge. But you won't be winning the next one," his face was filled with a smile.

May grinned, running over to hug him. The audience, besides Ash, Misty and Max, was quite surprised, but that shock only began more intense when May placed her lips against Drew's. The boy sighed, rolling his eyes, when they separated. The announcer asked a question, giving a surprised smile. "So, are you two an item?" he moved the microphone in front of May.

She gave an excited smile and said in a loud, screechy voice, a voice that caused Drew to sigh. "Yes, we've been in love for 2 years now. We went to the same school, the Pokemon High School at Pallet Town."

Misty giggled, her head still resting on Ash's shoulder. "She's so excitable..." Ash nodded as they continued watching the announcer question things about May and Drew's relationship.

* * *

Later on, everyone met up outside of the Pokemon Center. May was hugging Drew from the side and said to her siblings and Ash. "We won't be joining you on your journey, the coordinator route is quite different to the general trainer route. Our next location is Saffron City. We'll keep in contact though and we'll try to meet up with you from time to time."

With that, Drew call his Flygon out. He climbed onto the back of the ground/dragon and then helped his girlfriend up, she wrapped his arms around him for safety reasons. He looked down at the others. "We'll see you as soon as we can, we need to get going as our next contest is only in a few days. I'm assuming you want to get over to Cerulean City. That's where most trainers go after getting their first badges."

"I understand," Ash responded, waving as Flygon shot into the air. "We'll see you later!" soon Flygon was out of sight, May and Drew heading in the direction of Saffron City. Misty looked a little sad, but Ash grabbed her hand and said. "We'll see them again, don't you worry."

"I know..." Misty nodded, giving a smile. "I'm gonna go and call mom and dad before we get going."

"Alright," the boy smiled. They went back inside and called Misty's adoptive parents. But what appeared on the other side of the screen wasn't a human, no it was one of the tri-vees. The one being Shadow, the shiny of the trio. "Oh, hey there, little guy."

"Vee-vee!" the Evolution Pokemon squealed, calling his brother and sister over. One of the three, Sparks, had already evolved into his evolution of Jolteon. But the other two hadn't yet, due to the friendship needed for them to evolve as opposed to the evolution stones.

Soon enough, Norman and Caroline came over and smiled at the sight of their adoptive child on the phone. "Sorry about the tri-vees, Misty. We weren't watching them closely enough," Caroline explained, picking up Charm.

"It's alright, they're really adorable," Misty explained, with a smile. "I wanted to call you to reveal something," she grabbed one of her poke balls and sent out Butterfree. Caroline's face filled with surprise, but Misty didn't allow her to speak. "Ash caught her for me, to help me with my fear. She's helped me a lot in the last few days, even saving me from Beedrills..."

Norman smiled with a nod. "It's good that your getting over your fear, we feared that you'd only be able to interact with Beautifly from a far forever," he then saw Ash on the screen and said. "Keep her safe, Ash Ketchum. Or you'll face my wrath."

Ash chucked, Norman could be quite the overprotective daddy. He had been worse when his actually biological daughter had gotten her boyfriend. In his and Misty's case, the man made no comment as he found it more as a way for Misty to recover form her ordeal. "I will, promise."

Misty giggled, before saying. "Daddy, leave Ash alone. He's doing a lot to help me out here," she smiled up at her boyfriend, before continuing. "I just wanted to call to show Butterfree, me and Ash have to get to the base of Mt Moon before night."

Norman nodded, he and his wife saying their goodbyes. The two teens smiled, collected Max and began to leave the city by the entrance to route 3. But a voice filled their ears. "Wait!" the group turned back to see Brock, who was smiling at them. "Can I come along with you, my father came home and decided to take the gym back over. So I'm free to leave on a journey?"

Ash looked at his girlfriend and Max, both of them nodded with a smile. "Sure, the more the merrier. Besides, it might be nice to have someone with experience as a gym leader for helping with my battles."

Brock nodded, joining the group in their journey. "That'll be true and I'll be able to give Misty advice on gym leader work when she wishes to take the gym over."

Misty gave a small nod, thinking about her plans of becoming the gym leader. She knew for certain that she wouldn't become the official gym leader until after Ash stopped his journey, but she wanted to be certain that she could become one prior. Oh well, they were nearing her home town and would be there after traveling for Mt Moon. She was nervous, but at the same time, she couldn't wait. Ash seemed to notice her excitement as he smiled at her, with a nod on his head.

* * *

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, Brock's joined the group (Lets see how long until I forget him again...:/) and I've given my reason for May and Drew not always being in the story.

Ash

Pikachu (Male)

Charizard (Male)

Ivysaur (Male)

Goldeen (Female)

Misty

Togetic (Female)

Vaporeon (Female)

Staryu (Genderless)(Considered female)

Luvdisc (Caserin)(Male)

Squirtle (Male)

Butterfree (Female)

Max

Treecko (Male)

Kirlia (Male)

Brock

Geodude (Male)

Onix (Male)


	8. Cleffa, Clefairy and Clefable's Stone

The group was hiking through route 3, towards the giant mountain known as Mt Moon. Ash and Misty were holding hands like normal, as Brock began to talk about the Moon Stone. "A giant version of the common evolution stone, myths say that it crashed into the mountain in ancient times and the local Pokemon began to worship the stone, as it caused their evolution. Apparently the stone didn't cause the mountain to break in the crash, but there is a massive hole at the top that researches have look into."

Max gasped. "The Moon Stone can be found here?!" getting a nod from the oldest boy of the group.

Ash seemed surprised by the legend, coming up with a question. "Moon stones, huh. So, this stone is worshiped by the Pokemon within?"

"It's mainly the Clefairy that worship the massive stone, but it's been hinted that Zubats will disrupt trainers walking through. So they don't find the large evolution stone, in fact the location is actually vaguely known by the public."

"So that's why you encounter a Zubat every 5 seconds?" Misty muttered, she hated caves due to the fact of Zubats constantly appearing without any warning or reason. In fact, generally they aren't the greatest Pokemon to catch unless you really want to raise one into a Crobat.

"Well, I assume so," Brock responded, as they arrived at the base of the mountain.

But at the foot on the giant piece of rock was a man, being attacked by a flock of Zubat. Misty gasped and pointed at the man, yelling to her boyfriend. "Ash, he needs help and you have a super effective Pokemon out!"

"Right," Ash nodded, looking at Pikachu. "Pikachu, Thunderbolt!"

"Pika," the Pokemon nodded, jumping into the air and sparked a lot of electricity. It soon hit the Zubat, causing them to fly away and leave the man. Pikachu landed back on the ground and ran over to the man, patting his shoulder. "Pika, pikachu?"

The man smiled at Pikachu, patting him between his ears. "Thanks for your help," he stood up, shaking his lab coat out. He looked up at Ash and said in a sadden voice. "Those Zubat didn't intend to attack me, they were scared. Zubats are nocturnal, but someone's has been cruel enough to light up the caves. All the Pokemon within have had their lives disrupted by this cruel act. I was attempting to remove the lights, but the Zubat in fear attacked me. Would you please help me out, to find the cruel people who would be willing to do this?"

Ash looked at his companions for a brief second, before they all nodded and agreed. Ash smiled and said. "Of course we'll help, Mr...um?"

"Seymour, I'm a scientist from the Pewter City Museum," the scientist explained as he lead them into the nearest entrance to the mountain. All the nearest Pokemon, being Sandshrew and Paras looked quite sad from the intense light. They were used to their home being quite dark, not lit up like this. Seymour continued to speak a little while after the group saw the Pokemon. "I can only assume that these cruel people are after the Moon Stone. With it's sheer size, it can only be assumed that they wish to sell it. It could be worth a lot of money, but the Pokemon own the stone not humans."

"Belongs to the Pokemon?" Misty questioned, holding Togetic. Both of them looked quite confused.

"The Cleffa, Clefairy and Clefable that live here are said to own the stone. It's believed that the line came to our world via the Moon Stone, they were supposed to be a small amount that eventually went on to breed and now they live here to worship the stone. They can often be seen holding pieces of the Moon Stone as they hop through the caverns," as he said this, a Clefairy and a Cleffa hopped by. The Clefairy was holding a Moon Stone with Cleffa hopping behind it's companion. Seymour smiled down at the two Pokemon. "See, they love the Moon Stone."

Suddenly a loud cry filled the caves, everyone turned to see the Cleffa hiding behind the Clefairy. Standing above the two was a Meowth, claws out. "Pikachu, Iron Tail!" Ash was not impressed by the cat-like Pokemon trying to harm the Star Shape and Fairy Pokemon. Pikachu seemed to agree, his tail becoming metallic and slamming into Meowth's head. The Pokemon was knocked far away from the two Pokemon that it was trying to hurt.

"Oy!" the Pokemon suddenly yelled, Ash sighed as he recognized the Meowth straight away. No other Meowth could speak, besides the Team Rocket one. "Don't disrupt me!"

"Stop trying to hurt the Pokemon," Misty cried. The two fairy types saw her holding Togetic and ran over, they saw it that a girl with a fairy type could be trusted quite a lot.

"You can't tell us what we can or can't do," said Jessie, as she hopped down behind Meowth with James. "Before you decide to ask us, we're the ones who put the lights up as our boss asked us to steal the Moon Stone."

"You can't do that," Seymour tried to say. "The Moon Stone belongs to the Pokemon, you aren't allowed to take it from them."

"Oh contrary, we are under the command of our boss and we won't disagree with him. Just for the rights of some Pokemon, that we plan to steal anyway. They won't be separated from Moon Stone, so why do you complain?" James responded, but he picked up his poke ball. "But if your willing to argue, we'll certainly beat you in battle and steal the Pokemon, including yours," he then looked at Ash. "In particular, your Pikachu would be nice to have," he then threw out his Koffing and called out "Smog."

Brock grabbed a poke ball, thinking quickly. "Go, Zubat!" he threw his new Pokemon out, the Pokemon screeched out loudly. "Zubat, use Whirlwind!" Zubat flapped his wings strongly, sending the Smog back on the Koffing. The attack was strong enough to knock Jessie and James off their feet and they seemed the 'blast off'. At the time, the 'good guys' didn't realize at the time though that Meowth hadn't blasted off with his teammates.

Clefairy smiled and with it's Cleffa friend soon left the cave and walked up the mountain side, followed closely by Misty and Seymour. But at a river, they encountered Meowth. He seemed angry and yelled out. "Give me the Moon Stone!"

"No way," Misty yelled, standing in front of the two fairy types. Togetic nodded in agreement, which caused Misty to call out her Staryu. "Staryu, Bubble Beam," the Star Shape Pokemon summoned a large amount of bubbles that she sent towards Meowth, until they popped around him. The cat-like Pokemon snarled, suddenly using Fury Swipes to burst the Bubbles. But Misty wasn't done. "Use Psychic!"

Meowth was levitated into the air, giving Misty full opportunity. "Now, Staryu. Use Swift!" Staryu produced a bunch of stars that slammed into Meowth, causing him to fly off.

He even gave a classic nod to his team's favourite phrase as he 'flew' away. "I'm blasting off again!"

Misty sighed with relief, smiling at Seymour. Cleffa came and hugged her leg as they walked to meet with the rest of the group. On a rocky outcrop, Brock made some food for the Pokemon. Togetic was happily eating her food, but Misty was a little confused by a different factor. Clefairy was further away from the humans with Pikachu, Cleffa on the other hand was on Misty's lap and seemed very happy. Whilst she was thinking, Seymour decided to taste the Pokemon food that Brock had made from Misty's Butterfree. "It's not bad, to say that it's not for humans."

"Thanks for your compliment," Brock smiled, before he looked at Misty. Her face was still filled with confusion and she wasn't following the conversation. "Misty, are you alright?"

Misty blinked, jumping out of her thoughts. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little confused by this Cleffa...you'd think that it would be with Clefairy," she looked back down at the Star Shape Pokemon on her lap. It was dancing around all of a sudden and seemed to like the attention.

Ash nodded, but smiled at a thought. "Maybe it feels safer with you, Mist. Or it wants to be caught."

"Caught..." Misty wondered, giving a small smile. "It is cute, but I don't believe I should separate it from it's family. I'd rather not catch a Baby Pokemon that has a family, Togetic didn't have a nearby family and needed help when her egg hatched...Cleffa has a family and I don't want to split it from them..." her face was quite sadden at the thought of families, Ash nodded. Misty's birth family had definitely been horrible, so of course she would want to keep a baby with a loving family.

"I see, so you want it to stay here?"

Misty nodded, picking Cleffa up and carrying her over to Clefairy and Pikachu. The two middle-stage Pokemon looked up, as she gently placed the Pokemon down next to it's evolution. "Stay here with Clefairy, little one..."

"Clef?.." the Pokemon tilted it's head, confused. Clefairy seemed to understand though, as it gently pulled Cleffa in. Suddenly, Clefairy looked over at another cave entrance. It then ran off, Pikachu and Cleffa instantly following. Misty gasped, getting everyone to follow her into the cave opening. Inside was a massive stone, with light shining onto it from a sky opening. Surrounding the massive stone was tiny Moon Stones, which made a 'circuit' which was completed when Clefairy placed the last stone in place. Cleffa watched with amazement in it's face. "Cleffa!"

Suddenly dozens of Clefairy appeared from the darken edges of the room and began to dance around the stone, soon joined by the Clefairy that the group had been following. They seemed to be praying to the stone, which Seymour explained soon enough. "It must be the Moon Stone, they must be preparing a ceremony of evolution. Maybe they have these ceremonies every time the moon is full."

Misty smiled, kneeling down behind Cleffa. "Maybe when you evolve, you'll take part of these ceremonies."

"Clef!" the Pokemon smiled, giving a little cheer-like dance. It hopped from foot to foot in front of Misty, who giggled.

Suddenly a bang filled the room and Team Rocket came in, giving a grin. They interrupted the Clefairy's ceremony and seemed to be ready to attack. Seymour wasn't impressed and tried to run at the trio, only to be tripped by Meowth and lose his glasses. Ash yelled at Pikachu to attack, whilst Brock called Onix out. Jessie and James called their Pokemon out. Jessie first yelled out. "Ekans, go underground!"

"Koffing, Smokescreen!"

Misty gasped, throwing Butterfree's poke ball in the air. "Butterfree, Gust! Blow away the smoke!"

"Free!" the Pokemon cried, as she battered the spreading smoke away. But as the smoke cleared, it was revealed that Team Rocket and the giant Moon Stone were already gone.

Brock gasped and moved straight into action. "Onix, Dig! Find them!" Onix roared and dug into the ground, soon followed by Ash, Brock, Misty and Max. As they went into the ground, the Clefairy and Cleffa watched with amazed eyes. They helped Seymour with his glasses and soon were encouraged to follow after the group to get their Moon Stone back.

* * *

Team Rocket were riding a sled, carrying the massive stone. They were going down the mountain, well they were. Until Onix dug through the rest of the ground and appeared in front, stopping the sled and causing the Moon Stone to stop on the floor. Ash, Misty, Brock and Max climbed from the hole and Brock was quick to call out. "Onix, Tackle!"

Koffing suddenly moved upward and countered the Tackle. The two Pokemon fell to the ground, causing Brock to gasp. Seconds later though, Seymour climbed out of the hole with a bunch of the Clefairy. The Clefairy started to chant their names as they waved their figures. Seymour, swaying back and forth along the the teens, Max and Team Rocket, explained the move to the confused Team Rocket. "The Clefairy are using a move called Metronome, who knows what move it'll cause!" Cleffa, who was on Seymour's head, giggled as it cheered from it's evolutions.

Suddenly, the Clefairy stopped and the ground below them and Team Rocket began to crack and glow. Seconds later, a Hyper Beam crashed and sent Team Rocket hurdling into the sky. Meowth yelling out. "That was the Metronome!" he was soon joined by his companions in the respective yell of. "Team Rocket...is blasting off again!" as a star formed in the sky from their disappearance.

Clefairy huddled around the ground, their giant moon stone having been slightly broken in the explosion. It began to rain down onto the Pokemon, causing some to glow and evolve into Clefable. Cleffa ran over, cheering from it's friends. Seymour nodded and smiled, he then turned to the teens and Max and said. "I'm going to stay here with the Cleffa line, to protect them and their precious stone from bad guys like Team Rocket."

Ash nodded, giving a thumbs up. "That sounds like a great plan, Seymour. I'm sure they'll be happy to know that," he then turned to his girlfriend, Max and Brock and said. "We should get going too, Cerulean City awaits our arrival."

Misty and Brock gave a small smile and nod, as Max said. "I can't wait for your next battle, Ash."

"Me neither, little buddy," the four then began to make their descent onto Route 4 and towards the watery city of Cerulean.

* * *

I hope you enjoyed this chapter...forgot Brock, I almost forgot about Max in this chapter...:/ But wait until the next chapter tomorrow.

Ash

Pikachu (Male)

Charizard (Male)

Ivysaur (Male)

Goldeen (Female)

Misty

Togetic (Female)

Vaporeon (Female)

Staryu (Genderless)(Considered female)

Luvdisc (Caserin)(Male)

Squirtle (Male)

Butterfree (Female)

Max

Treecko (Male)

Kirlia (Male)

Brock

Geodude (Male)

Onix (Male)

Zubat (Female)


	9. Water Flower (Part 1)

The group arrived in Cerulean City later that day, it was nervous for Misty to step into her former home It had been a year since her kidnapping and return to the city that caused her so much pain. She shivered a little as she entered the city, causing Ash to place a hand on her shoulder and whisper. "It's alright, we'll only be here a few days."

"I know...and I'm the one who wants this," Misty managed to smile, walking forward. Togetic flew after her and the two swirled back to face their friends. "I'll be fine, so don't you worry. I want to get over to the gym, so I can meet this temporary gym leader," she then turned and seemed to began running in a direction. Well, she did used to have a mom who owned the gym so she must have known where it was. "Come on!"

Ash chuckled, before looking at Max and Brock. The trio nodded and ran after the girl of the group, until they came across a large circular building with a Dewgong sign on top. Misty was stopped, shoulder shaking. As they got closer to them, Ash saw the tears in her eyes. "Misty, are you alright?" he asked, trying to not scare her or anything.

She wiped her eyes, trying to smile. Her tears didn't cease though, despite what she said. "I'm fine, just sadden a little by the fact mom abandoned this place and my family...I wish she had taken me with her, then I wouldn't have suffered what I did..."

Ash nodded, pulling her into a comforting hug. "Shh, it's alright..." he whispered into her ear.

She gave a small smile, nodding her head gently. She finally wiped rid of her tears and said in a quiet and seemingly solemn voice. "I'll be fine in a bit, just seeing this place brought memories to me..."

Ash understood as he let go of her. He walked over to the gym and turned to say to the girl. "Lets get going inside then, so we can talk to the gym leader."

Misty gave a nod, her face filled with a bright smile. The two then walked inside, as Brock and Max watched from behind - they did go in shortly after though. On the way in, they eventually came across a giant swimming pool with some colorful platforms floating in the water. There were Pokemon swimming in the pool, even a Gyarados. Misty blinked, before giving a nervous chuckle at the sight of the Gyarados. She never liked them, despite her water affinity. She didn't even know why she didn't agree with the Atrocious Pokemon, maybe it was the fact of how scary they were or something else. She could never figure it out.

Shortly after they walked in, a blonde haired and golden eyed woman in a bikini outfit walked over. She was smiling, almost expectantly. "Are you here to battle the Cerulean gym?" she asked Ash, seeing the battle-ready Pikachu on his shoulder. Her eyes then switched to Misty and her Togetic, there was something about the Pokemon that she recognized. Then it clicked, the youngest of the former gym leader's daughters owned a Togepi. Maybe this girl was that kid, but she waited for the boy to reply to her question first.

Ash gave a nod. "I'm here to take on the gym, but my girlfriend Misty came for a different reason. One that you might know."

The woman smiled and gave a nod. "I believe I understand, do you happen to be the daughter of Azurine Waterflower?" when Misty gave a slow nod, awkward memories surfacing from the surname but she didn't let it enter her face. "I figured as much, I heard from your father that 2 years after Azurine left that you had hatched a Togepi. I never saw it directly, nor did I ever see you, but the moment I saw that Togetic. I knew it," she nodded before thinking of something. "I guess I forgot to introduce myself, I'm Kailani and the temporary gym leader here. Your mother asked me to take over after your parents divorced, Misty."

"I see..." the young tangerine haired girl whispered. "D-did...mother ever tell you why she divorced...f-f-f-father?" the general stutter in her voice was clear as day and her eyes shimmered with minor fright at saying the word 'Father' - she even had to call Norman 'Daddy' to avoid the awkward stutter.

"Well, I don't know all the details. But she told me that he was an alcoholic and loved to take his anger out on her," the woman gave a sad smile as she looked Misty up and down. "It wasn't till recently that I heard he was in jail, though I could never believe that he would direct his angry to you after the divorce. I definitely believe it now, your fear at even calling him 'father' and nervousness about standing in this gym."

Misty gave a nod. "Yea...but I have to get over my nervousness. I want to become the gym leader," she put a fist to her chest, trying to be completely confident. Her knees still shock slightly, but she was prepared to begin her journey to become the Cerulean gym leader. Togetic seemed to agree as she flew up and somehow used her left arm to do the same motion as her trainer and mommy. But she then fumbled a little and said. "I don't want to become it now, just begin my training. I want to stay with Ash..."

Kailani nodded in understanding. "How about this then, Misty. I can tutor you for a few days, then you can have a battle against your boyfriend at the end of it? It'll give you an experience of what being a gym leader means. You don't even need to win the battle, just battle superbly. I'll be your judge as to whether I believe you can become the gym leader in the future."

"That works with me," Ash decided to say. "I don't mind waiting if it means that Misty can began her training."

"Aww...thanks, Ash..." Misty whispered, smiling. She then turned up to Kailani and said, confidently. "I'll do it, if I fail then I know that it's out of reach for me and I'll stop trying to become my mom."

The older woman nodded. "That's what I expected, I'm sure you'll pass. First off, before I start your training, what water Pokemon do you have?" Misty blinked for a second, before grabbing her other 5 poke balls. She sent everyone out, including Butterfree, and waited for Kailani to evaluate them. The blonde walked over the four water types in Misty's team and asked about each one. "Staryu, what's it's move set may I ask?"

"Oh," Misty mumbled, unsure for a second. She then remembered and recited the 4 moves. "Recover, Psychic, Swift and Bubble Beam."

"Alright for an early move set, my recommendation would be to teach Staryu Scald and Ice Beam to replace Bubble Beam and Swift. My Pokemon can be of help there," the woman said, adopting a stern but kind smile. She then tossed something over to the girl, who looked at it. A water stone. "Then you can use this to evolve it, Starmie would be a better Pokemon for battles then it's pre-evolution."

"So you want me to get a Starmie instead?" the woman gave a nod to Misty's question. "I don't mind, but I want to respect Staryu's feelings. If she doesn't want to evolve, then I don't want to force her," she knelt down in front of the Star Shape Pokemon, giving a soft smile. "Staryu, do you want to evolve?"

Staryu's gem blinked, before she rapidly span around until one of her tips hit the stone. The stone as well as the Pokemon suddenly glowed, causing Misty to stand and gasp. Staryu's body grow bigger and more 'arms' appeared around her back. Then the color switched and went the light faded, Starmie was revealed to the group. Her gem seemed to glow to show her emotions, which seemed to show she was happy to have evolved. Misty gave a small smile before looking back at Kailani. "So, how many Pokemon do you use in battle? Brock's gym had a limit of 2."

"Well, the Cerulean Gym is the second gym in the Kanto list. So we have 3 v 3s, still allowing the challenger to make substitutions. If you managed to take the gym over when your boyfriend's journey is over, then you'd be wanting your Starmie to be your ace that is unstoppable. Now, we don't have too many rules to follow. We just accept that you have to have 2 water types in the order. But the first Pokemon can be non-water if it processes a water type move. I.e. your Togetic and Butterfree can both learn Rain Dance. My starting Pokemon is Raichu with both Surf and Rain Dance."

"A surfing Raichu?" Ash asked, shocked. The surprise seemed to be shared by Pikachu, though there was intrigued mixed in.

"Yeah, it's a rarity for the Pichu line to be able to surf. But a select few are able to learn the move, some can even learn how to Fly," Kailani explained, with a kind smile. She sent her Raichu out, the Pokemon seemed very happy with it's trainer as it instantly ran over to hug her. "But, the problem with the line using Fly is the dangerous factor. They use their electricity to make magnetic fields to hold them in the air, it can work but often it doesn't and they may hurt themselves. But, one thing I have learnt is that if they are well adapt with this move then they can teach others to learn them. So what do you say, what your Pikachu to be able to surf?"

"My Pikachu able to surf?" Ash was very surprised, but he gave a nod. "Of course, what move do you want to replace?" he looked up at his Pokemon.

"Pika!" the electric rodent seemed interested to. He hoped off Ash's shoulder and thought of his move set, he eventually decided. He didn't need two electric moves and Volt Tackle had the issues of recoil. So he eventually built the electric cone around him and ran around, shocking Kailani. "Pikachu-pika!" came Pikachu's cry, as he skidded to a stop.

"Your Pikachu knows Volt Tackle, that's quite rare in itself," Kailani said, quite impressed. "What is it's move set?"

"Oh, Pikachu has Volt Tackle, Thunderbolt, Iron Tail and Quick Attack presently," the boy grinned. "So, can he learn Surf in replacement for Volt Tackle."

"Of course he can," Kailani said with a smile, before looking down at her electric type. "What you think, Raichu?"

"Rai-rai!" the Pokemon called, before leading Pikachu over to the water. The two electric types then began their training, whilst Kailani turned back to Misty. The girl's face was filled with quite a bit of shock.

The blonde haired woman chuckled. "I can understand your shock, when Raichu first Surfed. She surprised me too."

Misty nodded. "It's definitely interesting. What other changes do I make to my Pokemon, Kailani?"

"Well, I would say that the best line-up you could have for your battle against Ash would be to use either Togetic or Butterfree first, they need to have Rain Dance which Raichu can help with. Then probably Squirtle, be sure to evolve it, and then Starmie. Squirtle's moveset will need a bit of an adjustment once I hear it."

"Oh, I haven't been doing with my Squirtle since I obtained him...he only has Tackle, Tail Whip, Water Gun and Aura Sphere."

"Well, Aura Sphere is a good start. A nice special fighting move. What I would suggest is teaching him Scald like Starmie. Then replace Tail Whip with Protect and have Bite instead of Tackle. It could be a nice start up for your battle," the blonde nodded, looking at the pool briefly as she clapped her hands. The Gyarados surfaced with a Cloyster. "They'll help you with your training in the next few days, so why don't we get started?"

Misty stared up at Gyarados, deciding instantly, as she nodded. "Of course!"

* * *

This chapter has to be split in two, since there'll be a time skip now. Battles next chapter. I'm sorry that this chapter wasn't up yesterday, I was having issues writing it but I think I've got it down now.

Ash

Pikachu (Male)

Charizard (Male)

Ivysaur (Male)

Goldeen (Female)

Misty

Togetic (Female)

Vaporeon (Female)

Starmie (Genderless)(Considered female)

Luvdisc (Caserin)(Male)

Squirtle (Male)

Butterfree (Female)

Max

Treecko (Male)

Kirlia (Male)

Brock

Geodude (Male)

Onix (Male)

Zubat (Female)


	10. Water Flower (Part 2)

Chapter 10, milestone! Well, lets get into this chapter.

* * *

A few days past, Misty had been working hard with Kailani to prepare for her battle with Ash. She had mostly be focusing on the trio of Togetic, Wartortle - he had evolved some point during the training - and lastly Starmie. She still paid attention to her other Pokemon, just they were going to be in the match with Ash so there was less reason to focus on them overall. On the day of the battle with Ash, she knelt down in front of the three Pokemon and gently scanned their dex entries, but only for their moves sets. The stupid machine took some time to turn on, but when it did it was quick to list everything she needed to know about her 3 Pokemon.

 **Pokemon: Togetic**

 **Moves: Psychic, Rain Dance, Thunder Wave and Dazzling Gleam.**

 **Pokemon: Wartortle**

 **Moves: Aura Sphere, Bite, Scald and Protect**

 **Pokemon: Starmie**

 **Moves: Scald, Ice Beam, Recover and Psychic**

She smiled, every move that her mentor had told to teach her Pokemon was there - clear as day - and she felt more ready then ever. Her Pokemon all seemed to pick up on her emotion, as they began to chat away in their own little language - or glow brightly in the case of Starmie. She smiled, nodding her head with a bright smile illuminating her face. "Okay, guys. We'll do our best, like Kailani said, we don't need to win this match. We just need to prove that we can be a strong gym leader and her team!" she held her hand out, which was soon covered by the three Pokemon's hands and arm.

Her battle was to be held later that day, she was supposed to change into a swim suit to avoid getting wet from constant attacks since the battlefield was on top of the swimming pool. She walked downstairs, where a giant aquarium was placed. The water in the aquarium was actually the same water from the swimming pool, as the two interlinked. It allowed the Pokemon to move around easily, as well as have more contact with humans as the humans could swim in the waters then. Misty had found it quite relaxing to just swim with the Goldeen and the Magikarp. Though, Gyarados still spooked her slightly. She had warmed up slightly to the water/flying typed Pokemon and found that he was just a big sap.

She leaned against the planes of glass, thinking to herself. She had recalled Wartortle and Starmie, so Togetic was the only one out. The Happiness Pokemon seemed to understand Misty's wishes for quiet, as she just sat on her mommy's shoulder with a content smile. Suddenly footsteps snapped Misty out of her daze and she turned to see Ash, she gave a small smile as Togetic flew over to hug her daddy. Misty leaned back on the glass and said, with her faint smile. "Hi, Ash. What you down here for, shouldn't you be preparing your Pokemon for the battle or something?"

"I was, but I was wondering how your training had been going," he said, walking to stand next to her. He too leaned back on the glassy wall, before saying in a kind voice. "I heard from the nearby residents that Kailani can be quite a strict teacher, so I just wanted to make sure that you were fine with all her teaching. Is she being strict or anything, you've not talked much about her teaching styles."

"I'm great, thanks for asking..." Misty whispered, closing her eyes to relax against the aquarium walls. Gently noises from the waters behind her feel her eyes as she continued speaking. "Kailani's an amazing teacher, I've finished my training with her help. I've even got closer to her Gyarados, the big softie doesn't leave me alone..." she then sighed a little, a couple tears in her eyes. "I just don't want to disappoint her, you know...this is my only chance to prove myself, to say that I can be the gym leader. I don't want her to turn around and say that I can't do it..."

Ash frowned, gently moving in front of her. He put his hands on her shoulders, causing her eyes to snap open and look at him, Pikachu and Togetic - the two Pokemon resting on the boy's shoulders. He gave a calming smile as he spoke kindly. "Shh, you'll be fine. Pikachu's already told me that he doesn't want to battle, so I'm gonna have to use Charizard so you have a natural type advantage. Hell, I'll even use him first so you have a chance to show your skills," his smile only brightened at the girl's surprised face, he had been expecting her shock.

Misty didn't understand why his face brightened at her shocked expression and tried to speak her argument shortly after. "Y-you don't have to-"

He caught her small complaint off tho, by placing a small finger to her pink lips. "Quiet, you. I want to help out, it's your dream to run this place and I'll be willing to help out in any way I can, besides you'd help me with my dream anytime. But anyway, your too sweet not to help. After all, who wouldn't want to help a precious angel like yourself," his compliment caught her slightly off-guard, causing her to blush heavily. He chuckled and gently pressed their lips together. She relished in the feel of the kiss and sulked a little when they parted, but Ash continued speaking. "Now, are you going to let me help you or not?"

She sighed, but smiled anyway. "I guess I don't have much choice, at least your being a good boyfriend," she then turned away and made a few steps down the hallway, before turning back and smiling. "But, I guess your sweetness is what makes me love you as much as I do. Now, I have to go get changed. Kailani wants me at the swimming pool soon, so she can review everything," she can an adorable giggle, before running down the hall. Togetic flew after after shortly after, giving a wave of goodbye to her daddy.

Ash chuckled amused by her giggles, he couldn't help but love the adorable girl and her Pokemon as well. He turned to the electric rodent on her shoulder and gave a small smile, as he said. "Well, Pikachu. Do you think we should get back to practice, I'm sure Misty and Togetic will be training soon," Pikachu hopped off his shoulder as he spoke. "I wanna see how you use Surf anyway, you haven't shown me yet. Is the only reason you wanted to learn the move to impress that Raichu that Kailani has?"

"Pika!" the Pokemon nodded happily, though the adorable and faint blush on his cheek pouches did indicate that Ash was right about the last statement, looking back briefly at Misty's disappearing figure as well as Togetic, the Pokemon he saw as a niece of sorts. He chuckled, before leaving to go upstairs with Ash. He couldn't wait to watch the two lovebirds battle later. It was going to be great, he could just see it. Even if he wasn't going to take part in it - to be fair, he was a little too strong for most of Misty's Pokemon even with the training they had received in the last few days.

* * *

Later that day, Misty - she had changed into a blue swimsuit with a white top (Think of her design in Heartgold/Soulsilver with her Side tail) - and Ash stood opposite one another on the platforms that rested on the surface of the pool. The Pokemon from the aquarium were watching them, the most notable was Gyarados. He was looking at Misty with interest in his eyes. At the edge of the pool was Kailani, still wearing her bikini. Behind her, on the stands, were Brock and Max. But joining them were Misty's sisters, Daisy had even brought her Luvdisc Luverin. Both Caserin and Luverin were in a giant tank, Caserin trying to get his crush's attention but being ignored.

Kailani smiled at the two, she had been preparing herself for this moment. Raichu was by her side, looking at Pikachu intently with a grin on her face. Pikachu had seen as he gave a thumbs up in return, a small blush evident still on his cheeks. Likely because of Ash's earlier teasing and the presence of the beautiful female Pokemon. Seconds later, Kailani began to speak in a calm and collected voice that she loved to use in situations like these. She didn't even seem to notice Pikachu's blushing expression at the time. "Would both trainers please release their starting Pokemon?"

"Lets begin this, old pal," Ash said with a grin, as he tossed his Charizard's poke ball. It cracked open and then bounded back towards the boy, as Charizard's shape appeared in a flash of red. Charizard made a confused expression at his trainer, but Ash quickly explained the stituation. He hadn't actually let Charizard out during training, the Pokemon simply didn't need such help. At least not yet, he had spent months training with Ash's father and thus didn't need the low-rated training that Ash could give presently.

Misty, on the other hand, seemed a little nervous as she fumbled with Togetic's love ball. How she hated placing her baby in the ball, but as gym rules she had to. It was quite unfair to say the least, but Togetic had made no complaints. But that wasn't what she was nervous about. No, despite Ash's encouragement earlier that day, she was still worried about disappointing Kailani. But that didn't stop her to at least trying, as she finally kissed the top of the heart designed poke ball and throwing it to release her Pokemon. Togetic came out with a graceful twirl and she looked very confident for her size.

"Charizard, use Submission," Charizard nodded and began his fly over to Togetic with rapid speeds, his arms outstretched in preparation of grabbing Togetic's small angelic body.

Misty gasped a little, before yelling out to her fairy/flying type. She needed to be fast about this, before Charizard made his move. "Togetic, Rain Dance quickly and then dodge!"

"Ticku!" the Pokemon nodded, summoning a swirl of black clouds at the top of the field. Rain pitter-pattered across the water, but only over the pool. Togetic knew to control the rain as the older Waterflower siblings didn't like their hair being ruined by anything and the last thing she wanted was them to be mad on her mommy's first day of official battling.

"Togetic, hold and wait!" Misty suddenly called, surprising everyone. Togetic seemed to understand though, as she held still and made eye-contact with the fire/flying opponent. The cutesy smile she held somewhat unnerved the Pokemon, though he'd never admit it out of his own dignity.

Ash chuckled however, he had never battled Misty and didn't know her style. So he chuckled out of his wish to find out, so he looked at Charizard and said to the giant fiery lizard. "Submission again!" Charizard growled out, his voice booming through the rain. He didn't seem effected, his training had allowed him to no longer feel the rain. He knew how to keep his tail flaming passionately, he had been through much worse in his life and had stared death in the face more then a couple times. As he lunged forward, he suddenly froze in mid air. Trails of electricity sparking from his body, slowing his moments. Ash gasped, realization hitting him instantly. "Paralysis, but how?..."

He then turned to see his girlfriend's hauntingly sweet face and nodded. Misty smiled and instantly threw her hands up. "Togetic, Psychic now!" a ball of purple light appeared before the angel-like Pokemon and was shot at Charizard, who cried in some pain. But he didn't lose his balance and decided to complete his Submission attack like his trainer had commanded prior to the paralysis. He was slower then before, but his claws wrapped around Togetic's small body and threw her into the waters below.

Misty gasped, horrified. Togetic had fainted instantly, causing her to do a rapid dive into the water and swim over to the Pokemon. She hugged Togetic close, as rain splattered into her already dampened hair. She carried the Pokemon, making sure that she wasn't submerged in the water. She gently climbed onto her platform and placed the Pokemon down behind her, a trail of water flooding around Togetic's unconscious body. Seconds later, she faintly heard Kailani say. "Togetic is unable to battle, Charizard is the winner," but she wasn't paying much attention, thinking to herself: this was what a gym leaders' job was, she felt proud of her Pokemon for doing the best her fragile body could against the massive fire/flying type.

She felt happy, as she grabbed another poke ball. She was quick to send Wartortle out, directing the poke ball at the water. The turtle-like Pokemon appeared and seemed ready for anything. She did too, as she quickly called out. "Wartortle, Scald!"

With Charizard's paralysis, he was too slow. Ash had commanded him to use 'Skull Bash', but Wartortle was very fast and sent a stream of boiling hot water towards him. It burned and with the super effective damage, in the rain no-less, it was all that was needed to knock Charizard from the sky. Ash gasped, seeing the fire/flying type falling backwards. He grabbed the Pokemon's poke ball and recalled him before his tail was submerged in the water. "Have a good rest, Charizard. You did well to manage this long."

Water trickled down his face as he smiled at Misty, he knew that he had promised to show her skills and she had done that quite well. Plus, she looked like she was enjoying herself. Togetic had awoke and was now hanging off her trainer's shoulder, which only adding to the happiness that beamed off the tangerine haired girl. She looked absolutely beautiful in the rain, he decided then and there that she'd always look better in her natural element of water. That was just how to girl had always been and always will be. He listened to Kailani as she called. "Charizard is unable to battle, Wartortle is the winner."

With that, he grabbed his second poke ball. He sent out Ivysaur, the Pokemon appearing with an intent to battle. He had done some training to get a grasp on all 4 of his Pokemon's moves and had checked Ivysaur's moves earlier that day. He had Poison Point, Giga Drain, Sludge Bomb and Hidden Power:Water. He knew what he had to do. "Giga Drain, lets go!" he called.

Ivysaur nodded, extending his vines and grabbing them around Wartortle's body. They were both starters, and naturally the one with the type advantage should win the match. Energy began to get sucked from Wartortle, but Misty wasn't going to give in. "Wartortle, free yourself with Bite and use Aura Sphere!" the Pokemon nodded, Biting down on Ivysaur's vines to get free. With his freedom in the water, Wartortle was able to summon a ball of red light and shot it towards Ivysaur, who couldn't dodge due to behind unable to swim like the other starter.

It must have hurt, but Ash was quick to continue. "Attach yourself again, but keep away from his mouth!" Ivysaur grunted with a nod, re-attaching his vines to Wartortle's shell with no way from him to bite down on it. The remains of the Pokemon's energy was sapped, causing him to faint with a small cry.

Misty sighed, she knew that would be the outcome. But she was glad that Wartortle was able to deliver some damage. Now she had to rely on Starmie finishing the job. She returned one Pokemon, as Kailani announced the defeat, and sent out the starfish-like Pokemon. Starmie stood prepared in front of her trainer, as Misty was quick to the call. "Starmie, Ice Beam!"

"Ivysaur, Giga Drain again!" Ivysaur's vines attached themselves to Starmie's arms, but the opponent had already unleashed the attack of Ice Beam. Ivysaur held in place though, weakly doing his best on the health that he was draining. Starmie was also starting to feel the effects, but another Ice Beam sealed the deal for Ivysaur, who collapsed to the ground from the weakness. At least, he didn't freeze at all. "Good work, Ivysaur," Ash said, before grabbing the lure ball from his belt. He threw Goldeen out, the fish taking refuge in the waters. "Goldeen, you ready?"

"Deen!" the Pokemon lunged into the air, happily. Ash grinned, remembering Goldeen's moves:Water Pulse, Aqua Ring, Signal Beam - somehow obtained, despite being an egg move naturally - and Agility. He knew the best move to use after the water/psychic type that was Starmie, but he waited to see what Misty had in plan for Goldeen. Especially as the rain had began to fade away, so any water moves were quite invalid now.

"Starmie, use Psychic!" Starmie's gem glowed as a purple ball of light appeared in front of her, before barreling towards the Goldfish Pokemon.

"Dodge it and attack back with Signal Beam!" the Pokemon nodded, dodging rapidly in the water as the Psychic went straight through the surface and went to hit the wall of the pool - luckily not damaging anything, though Gyarados was quite annoyed by the recklessness. Goldeen's mouth opened, a colorful beam of light emitted and shot towards Starmie. Misty tried to call out for 'Recover', but it was already too late. With her health low from Ivysaur's Giga Drain, Starmie's gem blinked and she fell into the water to declare fainting.

Kailani nodded, she had expected as much. But she was impressed that Misty's Pokemon lasted as long as they did, she still had to make the call. "Starmie is unable to battle, Goldeen is the winner. Thus the match goes to the challenger, Ash Ketchum."

Misty sighed, her legs giving out and she fell to the ground. She recalled Starmie and got a gently pat on the cheek from Togetic. She gave a small sadden chuckle as she spoke. "I lost...but I had so much fun," she looked up, shaking water from her hair as she did. "Yeah, this battle felt amazing. Right, Togetic?"

"Toge-ticku!" the Pokemon smiled, lunging herself from her mommy's shoulder and stretching her arms out wide. Misty nodded, understanding at Togetic was agreeing with her.

She stood back up, before diving into the water and swimming back to the edge. She pulled herself up, watching Ash do the same. Togetic flew over after she made it back onto the side. She decided to enter what she wanted to say instantly. "Kailani, I lost the battle...but did I prove myself?"

The woman smiled, closing her eyes for a brief second. In that second, Gyarados rose from the pool and nuzzled his head against Misty's body. As blue eyes opened to meet Misty's viridian ones. "I'd say so, Misty. Your Pokemon lasted long, despite only the recent few days of training. I think that even Gyarados agrees with me right now," the woman smiled, looking at the Atrocious Pokemon. "You know, of my team, he's the least utilized. Seeing his happiness around you made me think about that, I believe that you could do a better job of raising him that I could."

Misty nervously frowned, looking up at Gyarados. The Pokemon's purplish-red eyes seem to stare into her soul, she then turned back to Kailani and whispered. "You really think I could raise him better?...But your skills always impressed me, I thought that you could raise any water Pokemon really well."

"Well, Gyarados has always been special. He's not like the other Pokemon, he doesn't accept many trainers. He never truly accepted me, only allowed me to train him by chance. You see, he belonged to your mother and I had to look after him after she left. That's why, he belongs with the daughter of his former trainer if you ask me," the blonde haired woman smiled, showing a net ball to Misty. "So, do you want to train him? Accept him as your own, there's only so far you can go with Pokemon like Caserin. In fact, I'd even let Caserin stay here at the gym. He can see his love one more often."

Misty thought about it, looking up at Gyarados. The Pokemon seemed to want to become her partner and having grown to care about the big softie, she couldn't help but agree. She gently placed her hand on the net ball and took it into her arms, bringing it to her chest. "Of course, if that what he wants," she then turned to the water/flying type. "So, Gyarados. Return," she said, as red light encased the Pokemon and returned him to the net ball. She smiled, nodding her head.

"Thank you, Misty. I'll be sure to take good care of Caserin, you can come pick him up at any time. Or even drop other water types over if you believe they could do with the extra training. Anything for the future gym leader," Kailani said. "His moveset is Hydro Pump, Flamethrower, Hyper Beam and Protect by the way."

Misty smiled, as arms suddenly wrapped around her. She turned to face her boyfriend, smiling. He grinned at her, holding a thumb up. Kailani could only smile at the sight of the two of them, as she listened to what Ash planned to tell his girlfriend after the hug. "I told you that it'd be all right, didn't I. And you even acquired a new Pokemon because of it. I'm proud of you as much as she is."

She chuckled, nodding her head cutely. Little sprinkles of water seemed to leave her still damp tangerine hair as she did the motion, but she spoke soon after with little interest in the fading water. "Yeah, you're right as always," she then released herself from his arms. "So, where are heading next, Mr. Pokemon Master?"

"Vermilion City, I want to get there for my next battle," he explained. She giggled and smiled, she would follow him anywhere if it meant being with the boy that had brought her out of her shell over a year ago. She couldn't wait for their next adventure together, now with new Pokemon by their side. What would happen next was anyone's guess, but she knew that she would face it alongside Ash.

* * *

N'awwh, their such dorks. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and the 'cheesy' love between Ash and Mist. Especially considering the second half took a rewriting due to my computer absolutely hating me...

But regardless, I think this chapter was quite amazing. Just due to it's sheer size and how much I invested in the match.

Ash

Pikachu (Male)

Charizard (Male)

Ivysaur (Male)

Goldeen (Female)

Misty

Togetic (Female)

Vaporeon (Female)

Starmie (Genderless)(Considered female)

Wartortle (Male)

Butterfree (Female)

Gyarados (Male)

 _Cerulean Gym_

Luvdisc (Caserin)(Male)

Max

Treecko (Male)

Kirlia (Male)

Brock

Geodude (Male)

Onix (Male)

Zubat (Female)


End file.
